I'm Sorry
by Silenced by Chronos
Summary: -::LAST CHAPTER EDITED:: A cold Mikan. Mixed feelings. And... What's this? a hate for Natsume? R&R! COMPLETE
1. The Return

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice. I love it though :D**

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**-  
**

**Chapter 1: The Return**

**-**

It was already past noon. Three teenagers were approaching the academy gates; two of them were girls and one was a guy.

The girls were about fourteen years-old, one had silky black hair with chestnut brown highlights and it reached about two inches below her shoulder. The other had luscious brown locks that fell a few inches above her waist and hazel eyes. The guy seemed like he was a year older than the girls; he had silver hair and dazzling sapphire blue eyes.

"Hmph. So this is the so-called academy huh? Doesn't look like much..." The guy said, unimpressed.

"I know it doesn't, but Akira-kun, I assure you, this is a really advanced school," the brunette said. She then showed a semi-smile, then it turned into a frown.

"Mikan-chan..." The other girl whispered.

"Don't worry, I'm alright Ayu," she said. But in her eyes you could see anger and sadness welling up.

-

**Flashback**

**About Four Years Ago...**

**-  
**

"Natsume! Hi!" A cheery Mikan greeted the black cat under the Sakura tree.

He ignored her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Still no reply.

"Natsume, do you hate me?" she asked out of nowhere. She said it jokingly but deep inside she was really serious. Lately, she's been having a lot of thoughts on her mind, and it's been making her think about certain matters over and over again. She's been stressing out and even became somewhat of an insomniac, but she didn't want her beloved friends to worry, so she tried her best to act normal in front of them. Surprisingly, her acting skills weren't too bad at all. Especially when she was serious about things.

"Come here," Natsume whispered.

As soon as her hair was in his palm's range, he set it on fire.

"Of course I do. Why do you think I always ignore you, huh?! Leave me alone you idiot! How many times do I have to repeat myself?!" It started out as a whisper but then his voice became louder and yet he still managed to stay it calmly. Then he _slightly_ shoved Mikan. He's also been having a rough time. Persona. Threats. Worries. He couldn't decide whether to make Mikan stay with him or stay away from him for her own safety.

"I'm sorry... I promise I won't bother you anymore.. _Hyuuga-san,_" she said, trying to prevent her tears from coming out.

_What? __Hyuuga-san? Where did that come from?_He thought and also just noticed Mikan's tears. He was about to run after Mikan but she was nowhere to be seen. So instead he sighed and sat down under the sakura tree and sighed, thinking about Mikan... _She'll be back to her normal cheery self by tomorrow._

He didn't know how wrong he was.

-

**End of Flashback**

**-  
**

They arrived at the front of the academy gates.

"Mikan! Mikan!" Ayu shook her lightly.

"Huh?" she said as she snapped back into reality. "Oh, did I space out again? I'm sorry. Let's go in now, shall we?"

The other two just nodded.

"Open the gates." Akira ordered calmly.

The guard saw how dangerous he looked but managed to ask "What's your business here?"

"None of _your _business apparently. But if you don't want us in then it's your loss, not ours," Akira replied smoothly.

"No! Please don't go sir! I'm very sorry!!" The guard apologized frantically, regretting what he said, because they looked like they had important business at the academy and the guard was afraid of what the higher ups might do to him: fire him, or other unspeakable things.

"Hmph, whatever and just let us in. We MIGHT let this pass." Akira replied in an annoyed tone; but the girls knew he was having fun torturing the guard. Besides, he wanted to get in since his precious Mikan was really looking forward to going back to the academy. So they went in and walked towards the headmaster's or in fact who ever's office to get admission to the academy.

Meanwhile, Narumi was passing the front gate and saw the "new" students enter.

His eyes grew big and he became very surprised at what--or rather who he saw.

"Mikan-chan?!"

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**Author's note 2 (February 2009) : End of first chappie. I only did minor changes to this chapter, but I'm doing some major editing in the other chapters. So, I hope I made this story a little better for you guys. :) **

**Author's note 1 (a LONG time ago) : Hi everybody! Well um, this isn't really my first fanfic coz i deleted the other one, "i DiD iT aLL FoR yoU"... I'm sorry for those who liked it!! I deleted it coz I included this person i hate as one of the good guys but now i hate him!! niiweiz, please R&R! If u dont like my story then i woud gladly delete it. If it's too confusing or whatever, tell me!! And the flashback was just part of the whole flashback... ;P**

**-Aimee**


	2. Surprise?

**Author's Note: I accidentally replace chapter two with chapter three when I was editing this story so this chapter might be a bit different from the original...  
**

**Disclaimer: Aimee does not and will not own Gakuen Alice.**

**Warning: OOC (Out of Character)  
**

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Previously:

_Meanwhile, Narumi was passing the front gate and saw the "new" students enter._

_His eyes grew big and he became very surprised at what--or rather who he saw._

_"Mikan-chan?!"_

* * *

-

**Chapter 2: Surprise?**

-

"Are you sure about where we're going, Sakura?" Akira asked skeptically. They been walking for more than half an hour now, and they were just looking for the admissions office or the teacher's lounge or somewhere where they can go to enroll in Alice Academy.

Mikan laughed nervously and said, "O-Of course I do!" She pointed to a random direction. "It's that way!" she said and started walking in the direction she pointed.

She stopped all of a sudden and face the two people behind her. "Akira! My name is Mi-kan. Call me _Mikan_, not Sakura." She pouted. "Please, _Akira-__kun,_" she knew that Akira couldn't resist her pouting face and used it to get what she wanted. She inched her face closer to his. "Please," she repeated with a pleading voice.

"Okay, okay, Mikan," he said and averted his gaze. His cheeks had a tint of pink on them. _Why does she have to bring her face so close to mine, _he thought, tempted to kiss her.

Ayu snickered at the scene before her. "Could you two get a room?" She saw Akira blushing and she just couldn't resist the urge of teasing him. She loved to tease Akira and Mikan. She just found it entertaining and comical at times.

Akira glared at her. "Shut up."

Mikan didn't get what Ayu was trying to say or imply, so she just continued looking for the room where they had to enroll. Within a few minutes, she said "Ha! See, I do know where I'm going," Mikan huffed proudly. She pointed at the door which a plaque with the words 'TEACHER'S LOUNGE' written on it. She actually had no idea where the hell she was going but she pretended like she did anyway. Of course, her two friends knew that Mikan had a very poor sense of direction so they knew that she only found this room by luck.

Akira knocked on the door and entered. "Hello," Akira smiled at the people who were in the room--most of them were girls. He tried to charm them with his looks and smooth talk. The people there had a look of surprise on their faces when they saw the girl standing by the doorway. "Is this where we have to come to apply to this school?"

"YES!" Jinno shouted. A small blush crept onto his cheeks out of embarrassment once he realized what he did. "I, uh, excuse my behavior." He regained his reserved posture and motioned them to sit down. "Please, have a seat." He cleared his throat. "Actually, you don't even have to fill out a lot of annoying papers and whatnot; just a few for your basic information. I'll give the papers to you later. Of course you can enroll here and start immediately." He looked at Mikan. "But I'll have to know if these friends of yours have Alices or not, Sakura-sam-" he paused, realizing that he almost said 'Sakura-sama' "Sakura-san."

Mikan looked at him blankly and said, "Of course they do. I obviously wouldn't have brought them here if they didn't."

"Is that so... I'll go get someone to bring you to your rooms and give you your uniforms and things," Jinno said and walked away. He smiled once his back was turned to them. _Sakura-sama... _He was happy because she was back--an important person to the academy was back. The old Class B of the Elementary Division might not be as chaotic once she came back. He was thinking the same as a lot of the teachers there: Mikan was back; she was the one who would could make her former classmates happy again. They thought that their troubles would be over since Mikan's old classmates became very... Different soon after she left. They thought that everything would be back to normal and that those students wouldn't cause anymore ruckus and would stop making trouble. But they were dead wrong.

Were they blind or something? Mikan was wearing all black; her two companions were too. It's been about four years. Just like everyone else, Mikan changed. She wasn't the bubbly, optimistic, and enthusiastic person who they knew. They didn't even notice that her once bright eyes were dull and full of a painful expression.

Narumi entered the room. "You called for me, Jinno?" He flashed his signature bright smile.

"Ah. I did," Jinno answered. "Take these new students to their rooms, will you? And give them their uniforms and the rest of the things that they need."

Narumi turned his head to the new students. "Mikan-chan!" Mikan stood up from her seat to properly greet her "otou-san." His smile grew wider and ran toward her for a hug. He frowned and let go of her when he didn't feel her hugging him back. "Mikan-chan?"

Mikan looked at him with an apologetic look and smiled sadly. She looked at her friends; they nodded at her, meaning that she could do what she wanted. She smiled. Akira and Ayu knew that her smiled meant "Thank you."

Mikan hugged Narumi tightly. "I missed you, Otou-san."

The youthful teacher looked down at her and smiled. "I missed you, too, Mikan-chan." The top of her head was just below his nose and he could smell her strawberry-scented shampoo. He chuckled. _I guess some things haven't changed after all._

"Let's get going, shall we?" He held the door open. "After you," he said.

Akira walked out and grunted. Ayu followed and muttered a low "Thank you." Mikan followed.

Time seemed to fly because they were standing at the fork path that separated the girls' dorm and the boys' dorm. Narumi handed them their keys and told them that their uniforms are already in their rooms, place by the robot, Takahashi-san. "Akira's dorm is to the left and Mikan and Ayu's dorm is to the right. See you tomorrow."

"Where and what time do we meet tomorrow?" Ayu asked.

"Here. Seven thirty. Don't be late or else I'm leaving you two," Akira said.

Ayu smirked and faced Mikan. "Yeah, I'm sure our little Mikan wouldn't want to be late on her first day, ne?" Ayu teased.

"Ayu!! Stop it," Mikan pouted, letting her childish side show.

"Oi," Akira said. But he was ignored. "Oi," he tried again, but still got ignored. A vein popped on to his head. "This is ridiculous," he muttered and left the two there. Mikan being the tortured and Ayu being the torturer. They were so engrossed in their little argument that it took them a while to notice that Akira left some time ago already.

--

Mikan sat on her window sill, staring at the dark night sky. Only a few stars were out tonight and the one that shone the brightest of out all the ones in her sight caught her attention.

"I wonder how they're going to react when they see me tomorrow," she said to no one in particular. She shook her head. _I'd better forget about them... They'll probably end up hurting me again... I've got real friends now..._

She looked up at the brightest star. As if talking to it, she said, "I wish I could be like you... To shine brightly to everyone who is lost and to show my beauty..." She laughed at herself for thinking such a thing. _As if I have any brightness or beauty at all._

She jumped onto her bed and went to sleep.

--

Mikan stood in front of her mirror and looked at herself from head to toe. It felt kind of weird wearing the Middle School Division's uniform. She thought about how much she's changed and wondered if her old classmates have changed as well.

Three rapid, impatient knocks were heard on her door. "Mikan, hurry up!" It was Ayu.

"I'm coming," Mikan replied and put her shoes on. They went to meet Akira, who was surprised that the girls were actually on time.

They got to their new classroom and found Narumi standing in front of the doors. "Ah, so you came. Wait her until I say so, okay?" The golden-haired teacher entered the room and left the three outside. Mikan inhaled deeply.

"Class, settle down, settle down," Narumi said. The students looked at him point blank and wondered what kind of weird thing he was going to do today. They began to get a bit noisy and rowdy again so he cleared his throat and said: "Aaaahem. You have three new classmates. You guys can come in now." A twinkle of excitement was in his eyes.

The three figures entered.

Gasps could be heard in the classroom. "Mikan?!" was what the others said and some said "Sakura?!" Obviously they were all shocked... Or rather surprised, right?

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**Author's Note:****Chappie two done. Hope you enjoyed it.**

**-Aimee  
**


	3. What Happened To You?

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Gakuen Alice.**

* * *

On the previous chapter:

_"Aaaahem. You have three new classmates. You guys can come in now." Narumi said with a twinkle of excitement in his eyes._

_The three figures entered._

_Gasps could be heard in the classroom. "Mikan?!" was what the others said and some said "Sakura?!". Obviously they were all shocked... or how do I say this, surprised, right?

* * *

_

-

**Chapter 3: What Happened to You?**

**-  
**

"Everyone, please quiet down. What you're doing is quite rude and they're just about to introduce themselves," Narumi said.

Once again the class became a little more quiet.

"Ayu-san."

The girl with jet black hair and chesnut brown highlights took a step forward. She was a few centimeters taller than Mikan and had a pretty, nice, slim body: great posture, fine curves, expressive hazel eyes just like Mikan's and all those other stuff.

"My name's Yuuri Ayu. I'm fourteen years old. Pleasure to meet you all," she said plainly as ever. Both guys and girls were awed by her beauty and you could clearly see that they already had respect for her.

"Akira-san," Narumi called out.

Ayu stepped back and Akira stepped forward.

He flashed a small smile. Girls stared with heart shaped eyes and guys became envious of him. Normally, the class would be wilder than this, but they're not because of a certain reason.

"Toyama Akira. Fifteen," he said not caring a thing about the students but inside he was enjoying himself: he was playing his own "game." Making everyone love his looks and acting all cool and uncaring. Well actually, he really was partly like that, but whatever...

And finally, "Mikan-chan." Narumi said. "Most of you probably already know her from a few years ago, but for those of you who don't know her, or have forgotten about her, then here."

The pretty girl with aurburn hair and expressive hazel eyes whixh were now showing sorrow and anger if you look closely.

"I'm Sakura Mikan. Fouteen years old. If you want to know, my Alice is nullification. If you're too stupid not to know what that is, my Alice cancels out any other Alice," she said trying to make her face stay straight. And with that she walked back next to her friends (Ayu and Akira).

The class just stared, mostly at Mikan; they were really surprised. They didn't think that she'd ever come back. Normally, they wouldn't really be quiet or this much concerned with new students but this was different. They knew how it felt to lose the one who helped change your life.

More importantly, a pair of ruby eyes have been closely watching her since she entered the classroom.

"Well, class, any questions?" Narumi asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, what's their Alices, Yuuri-san and Toyama-san? And what's their rankings?" Some girl asked.

"Well, it's their choice if they want to tell you or not. You can ask them if you like. And their star rankings won't be determined until later today or tomorrow morning. For now, all three of them stay in two-star rooms," he replied.

"Who's going to be their partners?" Another girl asked.

"I haven't decided yet. Well, Mikan, you'll be paired up with your old partne--"

"NO! I don't need a partner anymore. I remember this school _perfectly_." Mikan practically shouted but managed to calm down in time and keep her image. "I could be Akira and Ayu's partner as well."

"Very well then, but if you need any help of some sort, then refer to Tobita Yuu, the class president. Alrightie then, au revoir! Oh, and you three can sit at the desk at the back, behind Natsume and Ruka," Narumi said as he left the terrified substitute teacher with the students.

As the trio were going toward their seats, a boy with raven colored hair looked back at his RPG manga, as if paying full attention to what he was reading and that's it. But he was actually just covering himself from letting a certain brunette, or anyone as of that matter, from seeing him staring at her. _Why didn't she want to be my partner?_ The famous black cat thought as Mikan was drawing nearer to him.

Mikan reminisced the happy and painful things that the people she saw reminded her of. Strangely, she could only remember the painful memories that she wanted to forget and not the happy ones.

-

**Flashback**

**-  
**

Mikan was running away as fast as she could, trying to get as far away as possible from Natsume.

Those words kept ringing inside her head, "Do you hate me Natsume?"

"Of course I do. Why do you think I always ignore you, huh?! Leave me alone, you idiot! How many times do I have to repeat myself?!"

She stopped and gasped for air, trying to catch her breath.

She looked at where she was and saw that she was standing right in front of Hotaru's laboratory.

She wiped her face with a handkerchief knowing that Hotaru doesn't like it when she's crying. She said it makes her look ugly.

"Hotaru!" Mikan yelled cheerfully, hoping that she could help her with her "problem".

"Go away, you idiot," she replied emotionlessly, knowing who that oh-so familiar voice belonged to.

"But, I thought you were my best friend!" Mikan whined.

"I said go away. And when did I say that we were best friends? I don't remember saying anything like that," she replied, colder than ever.

Those words stung. Like she was shot and the bullet directly hit her heart.

_Why is everyone acting different today? They treat me like garbage... _She started crying again and ran away.

_Mikan-chan? Is she crying?_ Hotaru thought. "Oh no! What did I just say?" She said and immediately came out of her lab and looked for her best friend. "Mikan!" she started yelling and looked for Mikan. But it was useless.

Sadly, Mikan didn't hear her; and that's when she decided to leave. She thought that she was just being a burden to everyone and that she just caused problems. Besides, why stay there? To let them hurt her more? She didn't think so.

-

**End of Flashback**

**-  
**

As she was passing she sent a small glare to the emotionless inventor and the black cat.

Then they proceeded to thir seats. Mikan was in the middle, Akira was on her right, next to the window, and Ayu was on Mikan's left.

Then two girls were approached them. One had slightly puffy pink hair and the other had shiny dark blue hair. Both were about the same height and had just the right bodies for fourteen year olds. Out of nowhere, they hugged the brunette while saying, "Mikan-chan! We missed you!"They released from the embrace and Mikan just smiled. She wasn't that close to them but she remembers that they were two of the first few people to befriend her when she first came to the academy.

"So, uhm... How've you been in the past four years?" Anna, the girl with pink hair asked.

"I've been pretty much alright..." She replied.

The girl with blue hair nudged Anna. "Oh! I'm so sorry! Where are my manners? I'm Anna and this is Nonoko."

"Hey," Ayu said, then put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. Akira just looked at them and blinked.

It was kind of awkward because the three (Anna, Nonoko and Mikan) felt nervous and shy towards each other and didn't know what to say.

Soon Kokoro Yome and Mochu came and started greeting them and stuff. Everyone was so different from when they last saw each other and they were so much more mature.

_I wonder how much fun their lives have been without me..._ Mikan thought. But on the outside she was trying her best to smile because she's not used to that anymore. If only she knew how much they have missed her and how much she changed beacause of her.

"Mikan-chan... I, uh... Hello..." Their class president, Tobita Yuu. He still wore glasses, even if he thought they were dorky, for Mikan. His body improved: it was more fit, his shoulders were broader, and he was pretty tall. He lost the somewhat feminine feeling that he gave off before and it was clear that he was more masculine than before. He remembered when he told Mikan that he thought he looked ugly so he was going to get contact lens. "No! Iinchou, if you do that then you'll make yourself really ugly," she pouted. "Besides, you already look great the way you are and contacts won't make you look like, well, you." And with that she laughed and he joined her.

He was kind of shy towards Mikan.

"Hey. You're Tobita Yuu right?"

"Well, yeah. But you can still can me Iinchou if you want," he replied, feeling a little more comfortable.

"Oh. Alright then," she replied again, showing no emotions even though she really wanted to; but, like I said, she just wasn't used to it anymore so it was hard for her to do.

"I just wanted to welcome you to the academy again," he said more cheerfully and with more confidence this time. "If you want to know anything I'd be happy to tell you anything I know about it."

"Thanks."

The blonde illusionist turned to leave. "I see you kept the glasses..." He heard her whisper. It might not have meant much to anyone, but it did to him. He smiled and walked back to his seat.

Natsume watched at the corner of his eye as another person greeted the new students. How he wanted to get up and tease her too. He still remembered what he said to Mikan all those years ago and regrets what he said so much.

A girl with shoulder-length hair also looked at the brunette but not letting anyone notice it. She wanted to hug her for a change. She missed her so much. She couldn't smile when Mikan left and she became more isolated.

"Um... Natsume..." a blonde guy with a rabbit said.

"Yeah, you can go Ruka. It's alright with me," he replied to his best friend not looking up from his RPG manga.

"Thanks!" Ruka said and stood up. "You know you should say hi to her too. I know you miss her as much as we all do."

"Sakura-san... H-hi..." He said nervously. _Oh God, why did I have to come here again?? _He thought, partly shaking.

"Hey."

"We-welcome back to the academy! And um... You guys too... Have fun!" he said and rushed back to his seat.

"Did you see that? It was so hilarious. But cute." Ayu giggled."Somebody likes Mikaaan," she teased but said it just loud enough for only the three of them to hear.

"Shut up," she snapped.

"Yeah, shut up," Akira glared.

"Make me." Ayu smirked. Then... **BAM!** She fell off her seat. Alarmed, the class looked at the source of the thud.

Immediately, a lot of people went to help her up but she just decided to ignore them and help herself. "You two... I'll get you back," she said and sat back down.

_Okay... Here I go... Good luck, Natsume, and I hope you live after this, _Natsume thought and got up. He was going to walk to _someone_ when... **RIIIINGGGG!!** The bell rang and everyone went out for lunch.

_Ugh! Stupid bell! I'm gonna burn you, h_e thought and glared at the bell. **(A/N: LOL.)**

Ha. Another chance that he missed. Tough luck.

* * *

**Author's Note 2 (February 2009) : I guess chapter was relatively better than the two ones before this. I like the next chapter. :)**

**Author's Note 1: Well everybody, that's my third chapter. Hope you guys liked it! Questions? W****hatever, go ahead and ask. This is so mean... I know all of you that read my story and even put them on ALERT. Ahem ahem... Aaw come on!! Review please!! I'm serious, if you don't then I feel lazy and I don't feel like finishing this story and it might take me FOREVER to finish... Maybe it might take me two weeks or a month or maybe more to finish another chapter if I don't have the right motivation to write... I mean, what's the point of making a story if nobody likes it right? So, might as well not waste my time writing a story... Well, that's all for now...**

**-Twinkly  
**


	4. The NEW Mikan

**Disclaimer: Aimee, (me), does NOT own Gakuen Alice... It's too much work... And if I did own Gakuen Alice, it would suck, so on with the story!!**

**Author's Note: Before I start this chapter I would like to thank all of you who read and reviewed my (suckish, if there's such a word, lol) story. I appreciate it VERY much!! I love you people... So, I hope you like this chapter!! and there's WAY more to come... Oh and, who do you wanna be paired up with who?? **

**P.S. read my note all the way at the end, it's important...

* * *

**

_"Okay... here I go... Good luck Natsume and I hope you live after this." Natsume thought and got up. He was going to walk to SOMEONE when... RIIIINGGGG!! The bell rang and everyone went out for lunch._

_"Ugh! Stupid bell! I'm gonna burn you." He thought and glared at the bell. _

_Ha. Another chance that he missed. Tough luck.

* * *

_

_-  
_

**Chapter 4: The NEW Mikan  
**

**-  
**

Natsume sighed.

"Natsume! Let's go! What are you waiting for?" Ruka called.

He sighed again. _Pull yourself together Natsume. You can talk to her later. But, who the hell was that guy she was with?? _He thought, getting a bit jealous. Then finally said "Hn. I'm coming, Ruka."

"Okay. Are you alright Natsume?" Ruka asked, getting kind of worried of his best friend.

"Don't worry about me Ruka. I'm alright," he replied with a little more life and walked to his best friend. Then they went to the cafeteria like everyone else.

--

_Argh... Where's Mikan?? Geez, I thought she would at least hug me after FOUR long years... A_ certain raven-haired girl thought. _I really wanted to talk to her... I miss her like crazy! Sheesh, she's still an idiot. Oh well, I guess I'll talk to her when I find her later... I'm really happy that she's back though... _Imai Hotaru thought. Not knowing that the person she was thinking of thought of the exact opposite of her.

"Hmph," the brunette grunted.

_I wonder how those two non-hearted freaks reacted to my return... S_he thought. _Well, I hate seeing them both again. And that cat-dog girl is getting pretty annoying. She keeps on staring at me! Dumb bitch... Well, whatever. I forgot! I wanna see my senpais again! I'll do that right after classes..._

Then she laughed, for who knows why.

**BAM!**

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?" Mikan said, getting somewhat infuriated. She glared and turned to look at who did that to her.

"Mikan-chan you loser. Stop laughing out loud like a maniac, will you?" Ayu said, trying her best not to laugh. "You're going to ruin our _perfect_ reputation." She said with sarcasm, this time, a little giggle escaped from her mouth.

"Gaaah! Shut up!" Mikan snapped.

"Will you two stop. You're acting like little children. It's embarrassing," Akira said straight forwardly.

"But she started it!" Mikan pouted.

"What?!" Ayu partly yelled.

"Whatever," was the only thing Akira said and slowly walked away from the two girls.

"No!! We're sorry..." The girls apologized and returned to their "normal" selves.

**At the cafeteria...**

"Hm... So this is what a two-star gets?" Mikan mused. "Oh well... At least it's better than what I had before."

"You guys, imagine I had to eat just a single bowl of rice for every meal that I had and a seaweed thingie on top and that's it," Mikan said again.

"Don't make me laugh Mikan-chan. You love eating. And, that is just impossible," Ayu said.

The only thing Akira bothered to say was "Uh-huh," and continued to eat his food quietly as ever.

"Ayu-chan!!" The brunette pouted.

"I was just kidding," she said and smiled sweetly. "And don't call me Ayu_-chan,_" she added.

"Hai!" The cute brunette replied and finally continued to eat her lunch.

Then...

"Ayu!! We love you!!" could be heard. "Smile for us again!!" The three of them looked at where the noise was coming from and saw that there was a stampede of crazy, obsessed fans.

"Oh no," she groaned.

Now, it was Mikan's turn to smirk and laugh at her and she did. "AHAHA!! Ayu look at that!! It's your first day here and you already have fans!!"

"Ack! Shut up, Mikan-chan," she snapped, annoyed with the fans.

"I'm just kidding. Want me to use my alice?" The cute young girl--I mean lady offered.

"Nah. I'll handle this by myself," she replied more calmly now. Then she gave Mikan the can-I-use-my-alice look and but Mikan just shrugged. And she turned to Akira and he nodded slowly.

"Thanks," she said.

She mumbled something unintelligible. Lavender-colored crystals then surrounded her, Mikan, and Akira. It was beautiful; it was already all shiny and her ice crystals glimmered because of the sun. It seemed like a gate or fortress or something.

"Oooh"s and "Aaaw"s could be heard coming from outside. Of course, people admired and marveled at the shining crystals and the "aaaw"s came from the disappointed fans.

"Wow... Ayu!! That was amazing!!" Mikan squealed, she too, was awed with what her best friend did.

Mikan looked at Ayu and she saw that she was panting.

"Are you alright? That was really new, you never did anything that uhm... big. I bet that if you train harder you'll get used to that. Kind of like me," she said, worried about the crystal maker.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. That was really cool though! First successful one. It would usually go just half way than what I just did, right?" She exclaimed happily, completely ignoring her fatigue. "But... I know I'll still never be as good at using my Alice as you..."

"No! Ayu, that's not true. Actually, I still can't use my other Alice that well yet and you know it. Besides, practice makes perfect," Mikan smiled and gave her a great big hug.

"Yeah. You should practice more. Your Alice is really powerful and you could use that as a really powerful offense and defense." Akira finally said.

"Akira! That is so mean! Wait, wha-? Was that supposed to be a compliment or what? And finally you said something!" Mikan confusedly said.

"You... Are... So... Weird..." He said, saying each word very slowly and chuckled to himself. "But cute too," he added real quietly so they couldn't hear.

"Yosh! I'm gonna practice really hard for you guys!" Ayu clenched her fist, determined to become better at using her Alice.

"Yeah. Now, sit back down Ayu_-chan_," the tangerine girl said and smirked.

"What?! And stop calling me Ayu-CHAN!!" she said.

"Whatever," Mikan said stoically.

"Hmph," was the only thing Ayu said. But then she smiled real quick. _I'm so happy to have friends like you two... Especially you, Mikan-chan..._ She thought happily.

And they continued to eat their lunch.

"Um... SAKURA-SAN!!" Some people were shouting from outside.

"Did you hear something?" Mikan asked.

"Yeah. I think someone's calling you," Ayu replied, no emotion as usual.

"Alright. Lower your crystals please, Ayu. I wanna see who it is," was what the brunette said.

"Okay," the crystal maker said, simple as that.

Ayu then lowered her ice crystals half way.

"What do you want?" Ayu asked with annoyance and looked at the people who were calling Mikan with a cold glare.

"Yuuri-san, we just wanted to talk to Sakura-san," a boy said.

"Eh. Mikan-chan."

"What?" She said as if not caring a thing in the world.

There was about seven or a bit more people.

"We just wanted to meet you," a guy with brown hair said. "You look really pretty and you know, a lot of students are really excited that you're here again."

"Really?" She replied in a bored tone. She saw a person she despised so much leaning on a tree not that far away.

"Well, I was curious, but people talked about you alot, even when you were gone," he said again.

"And I should care why?" She snapped.

"Because these people miss you and care about you so much."

That struck Mikan. But of course, she didn't show it. She didn't want to.

"Whatever."

"Well, if you need anything, please feel free to ask us. You know, there was a lot more people who wanted to talk to you and all, but they got scared," he smiled.

He turned around to leave.

"Wait, what's your name and why don't know you?" The curious girl asked.

"I'm Koji, Kazamoto Koji. And I just came here two years ago." He smiled once again and left.

Two guys and a girl bowed to Mikan and followed him.

"And the rest of you are?" Mikan asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"We wanted to give you Howalon! From the SA class." A girl said.

"Tell them I said thanks." She was happy that they remembered her favorite treat. She had to fight herself so that she wouldn't smile.

_Ow... What the hell? _Mikan thought, feeling something tapping into her thoughts.

"Wait... Is that...? Kokoro Yome..." She said, starting to flare up.

"Uh-oh." Koko said. "Ehehe, hi Mikan!" He said and laughed nervously.

"Why the hell where you trying to read my thoughts?! That is so invading my privacy and ugh!" The not angry brunette yelled.

"I-I'm sorry..." He stammered, now quaking.

"You better be..." she said coldly. She stared at Koko and then at the people around him and ran away, feeling like a monster. She saw fear in their expressions.

"Wow... Mikan, what happened to you?" He asked with disappointment. That question also ran through the heads of a lot of other people.

"Mikan-chan..." Ayu whispered and got up. But Akira put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"She needs to be alone." He said and looked up at Ayu.

"But-" she complained.

"Don't worry." he smiled. "She's gonna be okay."

--

Mikan was running towards wherever her feet took her.

_Why? _She kept asking herself.

"Ugh! Was that me? Why am I like this??" She asked herself. She stopped when she was too exhausted and needed to catch her breath.

"Why can't I be like the old Mikan again?" She asked herself as she sat down and hugged her knees.

"Why is it hard to smile?" She asked again, crying.

"WHY?!" She shouted.

She punched a tree. Repeated. And she kept on repeating until her hands actually bled. She stopped and saw a nearby lake and went to it. She looked at her reflection and saw how she looked, tear-stained face and everything.

"Great, now I look ugly," she said.

The brunette washed her face and hands.

"OW! My hands hurt... This sucks... Dumb Natsume... Damn you and Hotaru and all you others..." She cursed.

She rinsed her hands to make the blood color come off and bruises could be seen on it. No worries though, her wounds weren't that big. She's not stupid to keep on punching the tree until she seriously got hurt.

Mikan sighed and flopped herself onto the ground. She calmed down now and her eyes were closed. She opened them and stared at the blue sky and the clouds that floated...

**Meanwhile...**

The infamous teenage male with raven-colored hair walked away from the tree he was standing from.

"Natsume!!" A heavily panting mind reader called, trying to reach the fire caster.

Natsume stopped but didn't bother looking at Kokoro Yome.

"So, what was that idiot thinking about, hm?" He asked monotonously. But actually, inside he was reallly curious and excited. Of course, he wouldn't show it because of his stupid pride.

"I, uhm..." Koko stammered.

"Spit it out. I don't have all day you know," Natsume ordered. Technically, he did have all day but, you know what I mean **(;D).**

_Okaaaay... But I'm sure you're gonna go berserk again... So here I go..._ Koko thought. He took a big breath and said, "Well, Natsume she saw you standing by that tree earlier and recognized you perfectly..."

_Yes!_ The fire caster thought excitedly, happy that the beloved baka of his remembered him.

"...But," Koko continued, "She wasn't happy to see you."

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

"What?" He thundered, twitching a bit. He was getting angrier by the second.

"Whatever," he said and walked away, keeping his cool. But actually, he was sad, hurt and upset.

He walked away, leaving Koko behind.

_Mikan..._ Natsume thought.

Strangely, Koko heard the name that kept running through the fire caster's thoughts. Then it could be heard no more as the image of him disappeared from Koko's sight.

"Natsume," he whispered. Sad for him. Also sad and disappointed, not at Mikan, but at her attitude now, unlike the Mikan they used to know...

* * *

**Author's Note 2 (February 2009) : I was beginning to think of how crappy this story was, but I guess that this chapter was pretty much okay. I sorta liked the ending. Ugh, I hope I improved my writings skills. I suck at writing the beginnings of stories. **

**Author's Note 1: So... How was it? I hope you liked iit!! I really really wanna thank all of you for reviewing my story... I _really_ appreciate it... OH YEAH! tell me who should be paired up wiith who... Like natsumexmikan, rukaxayu, hotaruxakira... Like that! anyone you want, mention it and I'll decide... Questions, comments, whatever, tell me alright? oh yeah, thanks for reading and please keep those reviews coming!! see that boxie down there, make clickie!! LOL. By the way, sorry for grammar and spelling errors... **

**-Aimee**


	5. Help?

**Author's Note: Hey everybody! I'm back!! Wellsz, this is the fifth chapter of my story... Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Like I said before, I don't own Gakuen Alice... ((sigh)) And I never will... **

**Anyways, on with the story!!

* * *

**

_He walked away, leaving Koko behind._

_Mikan... Natsume thought._

_Strangely, Koko heard the name that kept running through the fire caster's thoughts. Then it could be heard no more as the image of him disappeared from Koko's sight._

_"Natsume," he whispered. Sad for him. Also sad and disappointed, not at Mikan, but at her attitude now, unlike the Mikan they used to know..._

_

* * *

-  
_

**Chapter 5: Help?**

-

_Argh!! _The raven-haired boy thought. _Damn it! Why is she like that? I'm the one who's supposed to make HER feel bad or something, not the other way around! _

The bell rang for the students to get to their next period.

"Heh. I'll look for the idiot later..." He said, a bit more relaxed.

--

"Gah!" yelled a brunette. "I guess I should get going now." She stood up and headed to her classroom.

--

**In class A, Middle School Branch...**

The door opened as Mikan came in with a non-emotional showing face, as usual.

Whispers were heard and gossips probably already started. Students glanced at her every now and then.

But, not really caring, she just walked to her seat, throwing quick glances at the students as she passed them.

"Mikan, where'd you go? Are you alright?" Asked a concerned Ayu.

No reply. But, our young brunette did look at the city girl (Ayu).

Being the friend that she is, (Ayu), she saw the expression in Mikan's eyes and fully understood the little expression that Mikan showed on her face.

Ayu half-smiled and nodded.

"Oi, I can't understand what you two are doing or your 'girl talk.' Since I'm a guy. Not a girl. So spill already." Akira said. **(A/N: Aaw.. Somebody's concerned.. How sweet.. :D)**

Just then, Natsume, Ruka, Kokoro and some other boys came in.

Natsume and Ruka of course, in the front, leading the gang.

Natsume's ruby eyes scanned the room for -**ahem ahem- **a certain someone.

And he found her... Strangely, he felt a short, sharp pang in his chest. His eyes were fixed on her for a second or two. **(A/N: Yeah, you know who it is... Ayu!! I'm just kidding, Mikan, duh.) **

"Hn," he grunted, out of his little trance, and proceeded to his seat.

--

If you were wondering, Sumire and the other fan girls stopped squealing "Natsume!!" and "Ruka!!" when Mikan left.

Like I said, a lot of people's lives returned to misery when the person that could cheer them up left.

If you don't remember, Natsume and Ruka were cold and ignored mostly everyone before Mikan came and changed their lives. But they would let the fan girls swarm around them sometimes or if the fan girls had the guts to anyways...

Since Mikan left, Ruka, Natsume, and other people returned to how they were before. No, actually, it was worse. Now, Natsume and Ruka wouldn't even let their fan girls get near them. If they even tried talking to them, they would get hurt, either physically, emotionally, or both.

Hotaru became depressed and lonely again. She locked herself away from people more and kept everything to herself. She became obssessed with Mikan again and started to build another robot like Amanatsu. She missed Mikan so much. She even became colder to people and hurt them for doing simple mistakes that are the tiniest bit related to her.

Sumire became mean again and the students would get into fights sometimes, even over little and unimportant things.

Mikan sighed. "Don't worry Akira-kun," she smiled a little, "I'm fine. I just went to this nearby forest thing or whatever. That's about it."

"Sure you did," he replied sarcastically, unconvinced. "Then how do you explain this?" He reached for her hands, exposing the small cuts and bruises on it.

Natsume, who just reached his seat, which was just in front of theirs, also saw Mikan's hands.

_What the hell? _He thought, his eyes widening a bit. Of course because he still cared about her. Even after all these years that she left him. And, also because of _jealousy_. _What happened to her hands? More importantly why the hell is that guy being all worried? Is he gay or something? He's acting like a freakin' mother... Why can't her other friend be taking care of her instead, huh??_

"I- I- I-" she stuttered.

"Tell me," Akira said, showing anger but trying not to.

"I- uhm," she continued.

"I wanted to let my anger out and hurt myself..." Someone said, "I hate myself... I screamed at one of those few people I called my 'friends'... Also because... I just felt like it... But I-" That person's voice got cut off as Mikan covered her mouth and her alice went on again as she realized that she let her guard down... Again.

The brunette grunted, her anger beginning to rise.

She threw a book from where the voice came from and Koko came out.

"I thought I told you _NOT_ to read my mind!!" She yelled angrily.

"Mikan-cha-" he was cut off.

"No, don't you dare call me that. You have no right to!"

"I-I'm sorry..."He said.

"Shut up!"

"Sit down," Akira said and pulled her down so she would be seated.

"Hey you... Would you be quiet? You're new and you're already making all this fuss," the complained. "People are trying to have peace here..." He placed his feet on top of his desk.

"Asshole..." She murmured, her temper now going down.

"Thanks," Akira said lowly, calming down now.

"I, uh- no problem," Koko said and laughed nervously. "I better get going to my seat now. Ja!"

_Hn. Thanks..._ Natsume thought. _But if you dare read my mind again you'll SURELY regret it_, he thought and glared at Koko.

At that, Koko sweatdropped and laughed again.

Also, an ebony-haired girl from all the way in the front watched the whole scene._ Mikan-chan... Why?_ She thought. _Something must be wrong... I'll figure it out soon... I still love you, you baka..._ She thought and smiled. It seemed like a sad smile though...

"Class!! For once, I'm teaching you. Ahaha," Narumi said as he entered and giggled.

--

"Finally! The class finally ended..." Mikan said, walking out of the room with her the usual, Ayu and Akira. "Oh yeah... Narumi-sensei told us to see him tomorrow afternoon instead."

"Uh-huh. So what do you two wanna do? Let's explore this huge joint. I wanna see some places at this academy..." Akira said.

"Let's meet later. Same place, alright? I have some _business_ to attend to..." Ayu said.

"Whatever."

And all three went their seperate ways... .

--

The classroom was nearly empty and the raven haired inventor was leaving.

"Imai..." A guy grabbed her wrist.

She turned her head to see who it was. Natsume. Oh wow.

Ruka wasn't with him this time. He was looking down and his bangs were covering his eyes.

"What..." She replied in an icy tone. But she knew that he was serious since he barely or actually never talks to her. Or any other girls in fact. AND he called her by her name. He never ever did that. To a girl. Except for _Mikan_. Once...

"Mikan. Talk. Me and you..." he said.

She just stared at him.

"I know... Let's talk about it in your room..." she said monotonously. She really wanted to know what was wrong with her best friend.

So they headed to Natsume's room. But, even though they weren't talking to each other or anything, tension filled the air. On their way to their destination, not a peep could be heard from them. They didn't talk. Nope, they had nothing to talk about. Except for that one person that is really important to both of them.

Quick as ever, they arrived at his room.

He opened the door and didn't really care about what Hotaru was going to say or do.

"So this is what your room looks like."

"Whatever. But since you're known to be a genius, you probably know why I asked _you_ to come and have a word with me."

"No need to be so formal black cat," her voice trailed off, "And yes... I know exactly what you're talking about..."

"Polka do-"

"Don't you dare call her that. Her name's Mi-kan," she snapped, aiming her baka gun at him.

"Anyways... She..." he sputtered, feeling uneasy of what to say.

"Hasn't been what you expected?" She finished is sentence. "I'm very well known of that."

"Damn it... She's been different. The exact opposite of the Mikan I know..."

"So... What are you gonna do about it, Hyuuga? It's not like-"

"F-CK! You and I are going to ask HER what's wrong."

_Hm..? I've never seen Hyuuga this mad before... So I WAS right all along... before, i had doubts but this confirms it... _the inventor thought. _He likes my Mikan._

"Oh really, Hyuuga. And _how_ do you expect..."She paused, _"Us _to confront her? Why do _you_ even care anyways? She's nothing to you," she said icily.

"It's none of your business..."

_Hmph. How pathethic. Look at you, Black Cat. Letting your guard down. Well, if you want Mikan, you have to get MY approval first, _she thought again and had a tiny smug smile.

"So? Are you going to help me or not?" Natsume repeated.

"I guess I will. Will a small fee, that is."

"Whatever. Here's 20,000 yen."

"Hm.. You're a good customer, Hyuuga. You've come to the right person."

_Eh. What an idiot. I was gonna help him out anyways... You better get ready for me Hyuuga. I'm gonna give you a REALLY hard time.. _She thought. _But I really wonder what happened... Mikan..._

Hotaru then returned to herself and started planning out things.

"Alright Hyuuga..."

And the plan to find out what happened to the person most precious to them had begun.

* * *

**Author's Note 2 (Feb 2009): Like I said, this story is horrible :'( I'm beginning to lose confidence in my writings... ((sigh))**

**Author's Note 1: I'm soooo sorry for not updating sooner!! I alreadi have the next chapter though... mwahahaha!! LOL. I'm not gonna post it jusz yet... coz I juz finished posting this chapter :) anywaysz,** **thanx a billion for waiting!! hope you liked it... oh and thanx for all off those who read and reviewed my story!! that makes me super happy... haha.. comments? questions? stuff like that, go ahead and tell me so I can write a better story.. : please review!! see that square button on the bottom?? go clickie!! LOL. **

**-Aimee  
**


	6. Senpais and Jealousy

**Disclaimer: Me no own GA. Period.**

* * *

_"Eh. What an idiot. I was gonna help him out anyways... You better get ready for me Hyuuga. I'm gonna give you a REALLY hard time.." she thought. "But I really wonder what happened... Mikan..."_

_Hotaru then returned to herself and started planning out things._

_"Alright Hyuuga..."_

_And the plan to find out what happened to the person most precious to them had begun._

* * *

-

**Chapter 6: Senpais and Jealousy **

**-  
**

"Akira."

"Sakura."

She raised her eyebrow.

He looked at her entertainingly.

She looked to her left, then to her right and sighed heavily while looking down.

"Hi!!" She practically yelled as she jumped to hug him.

"Eh," he said and sweatdropped. He looked away... To hide the small glimpse of his smile.

Mikan smiled and giggled.

He saw her and his face turned even red. He looked down so the cheerful Mikan couldn't see him blushing; his bangs were covering his face.

A moment of silence.

Akira leaning on the wall, arms crossed and one foot on the wall, the other slanted. Still looking down.

Mikan with her hands behind her back, also leaning on the wall, stared at the sky as clouds passed by slowly. _It feels like time is going slower than usual... It's somehow relaxing... _She closed her eyes. _I like this... I can't help but feel like... I don't know... What is this feeling? Is this good or bad?_ She looked at Akira.

_It's so quiet ..._

"Ah! Ano (um), Akira-kun! It's getting a little late, so I'm gonna go look for Ayu now, okay?" She said to make the awkwardness of the silence go away.

"Mikan," he grabbed her hand before she slipped away. _Every time you leave me it feels like it's the last time I'll ever see you again... Or either that you want to get away from me as soon as possible... _He was still looking down and his bangs loomed over his face, forming a shadow over it. _...And it hurts... A lot... _

Her heart beat harder. _"He said my name.. It's rare that he does that with me having to force him... And... Why does my heart feel like it's pounding against my chest_? _This is so like deja vu..._ The brunette turned her head and looked at him with a smile. "What is it Akira-kun?"

"I-"

"Mikan!! Akira!!" He got cut off by a yelling Ayu. "I'm so sorry I'm late. But I'm not that late!! And heeey, Mikan-chan, you're actually early." She laughed mockingly, but meant it as a joke. "Anyways... Where are you gonna take us Mikan-chan? Huh, huh, huh?"

Akira and Mikan sweatdropped and fell down_ Someone's hyper, _they thought simultaneously.

"Did I miss something??" A confused Ayu said with a tilted head and placed her index finger on her bottom lip.

The brunette giggled and it turned into a laugh. And Akira actually smiled, and he let the girls see it.

"Alrightie then! Let's gooo!! To... The high school campus! Cha! I want you guys to meet somebody..."

"Who. Tell me." He said, returning to his usual self.

"You'll see," the brunette replied and winked. She lead the way to... Somewhere.

--

When the three were out of sight, Natsume jumped out of a tree not too far from where Mikan and the others met.

_What the fxck. Why is that guy so demanding? Sheesh. You think he has power over Mikan or something. I'll get you Akira. Toyama Akira,_ he thought, a bit pissed off.

**BAKA BAKA!**

"What the hell?!" He shouted. "What was that for?!"

Up from another tree came Hotaru, coming down with some weird invention of hers."What? You were making the temperature rise you idiot. Calm down. Damn. What is your problem," she said directly, still not showing her emotions.

But she was actually kind of enjoying herself, smirking inwardly; not showing it on the outside or that would have given her away.

"Well? You coming or not?" she hopped onto her duck scooter and didn't even bother to see if the black cat was following. Like she cares. Besides, she's smart enough to know that he _will_ follow her. **What an evil girl.**

They headed to... Follow Mikan. Nah, they were headed to the opposite direction, going to her lab. Why waste time and energy to follow them, and worse, have the possibility of getting caught? Just have someone or_ something_ to follow them for you.

**Back to the trio...**

The brunette stopped. She looked down, embarrassed. "Uhm... Guys.."

They stopped too, of course.

"What is it??" They asked.

"Um, you see..."

"Well??"

"I know I said that I care for no one from here, or barely anyone, but I miss my senpais... They were really nice to me and I miss them a lot... Plus, Ayu-chan, Tsubasa-senpai looks so hot!!" She exclaimed excitedly.

At hearing that, Akira twitched for a second and Mikan caught Ayu's attention. She smiled.

"What are you waiting for then? Let's gooo!!" Ayu said.

"Hmph. Whatever," Akira said, kind of annoyed. But as Ayu was ahead and had no idea where she was going, Mikan noticed Akira's mood.

"You okay, Akira-kun?" The cute brunette asked as she popped out of nowhere.

"Huh? Oh uh, yeah. Let's go."

She smiled and walked.

_Wow. She makes me happy just by smiling and saying simple words. She looks so cute... but that Tsubasa... Wonder how he's really like... _He followed Mikan smoothly, hands tucked in his back pockets.

**To the two evil spying people! (Hotaru, the black mailer and Natsume, the black cat):**

_OH. MY. FXCKiNG. GOD_. Natsume's head was practically about to pop off. He didn't know whether to be jealous of that Akira guy or that Tsubasa. _That stupid loser! Trying to look all that and acting all cool. So she thinks Tsubasa is hot?! She didn't even bother mentioning my name. I look way better than that piece of crap._ He punched the wall and walked outside to get some air to calm himself down.

Hotaru, on the other hand, was amused. How entertaining this was for her. She snickered, finding it silly how Natsume got mad over the smallest things... Maybe he would be the happiest person in the world if Mikan said that about him instead. Or maybe just the happiest person in the world ...For a few minutes... Or seconds ...Or so.

**Back to the trio again...**

"Mikan-chan..." Mikan jumped as someone poked her from behind.

"Gaaah! " she yelled and her two companions burst out laughing behind her.

"Oi, baka, do you still know where you're going? We've practically been going in circles for about an hour," Akira said.

**_-_**

**_Small Play_**

**_-_**

**_Chibi version: Natsume:"Hey you! That's what i call her!! Get your own originality you dumb cunt!" _**

**_Hotaru:-pulls Natsume- "C'mon, lets go, you'll get over it lover boy."_**

**_Natsume: "Grrr..." _**

**_-_**

**_End of Small Play_**

**_-_**

"Uhm uhm..."she started.

They heard laughing voices not so far away. And of course, Mikan being Mikan, said "I do too know where we're going! It's this way!!" She said, pointing to where she thought the laughter came from, also rushing in the process.

_Oh boy, _Ayu thought.

And Akira, _Here we go again. She's lucky she's cute._ And he smiled secretly yet again.

They followed Mikan anyways, pretty sure that she still didn't know where she was going. They loved her. Just a couple of minutes later, sure that she reached the source of laughter and out of breath, Mikan stopped and put her hands on her knees. Panting heavily.

The brunette finally caught her breath and stood up, regaining her calm and _"perfect_" posture.

"OH-EHM-GHEE. OH MY GOD!!" Mikan _kind of _started jumping around and making little yelps of joy and even screamed.

A rustling sound from the bushes behind her. It was Ayu and Akira. Who else?

They made a loud thud as they fell out of the bushes.

"What's the big deal Mikan?" Ayu asked curiously.

She ignored them.

The two laughing people turned to see what all the noise was about and they stared blankly. Surprised.

"MiKAN-CHAN!!" A black-haired seventeen year old yelled. He was quite tall. Somewhat attractive, and according to the ten year-old Mikan, "he looks like a movie star."

He rushed to her and hugged her tightly. "Since when did you come back??" He asked, releasing her from the hug.

She giggled. "I just got here toda-"

**SMACK!**

A reddish-pinkish haired girl with a nice curved body, apparently named Misaki, approached them and hit the black haired person with a star below his left eye. "I get to hug Mikan-chan first!! Got it?!"

And the arguing begins.

"Why?!" He yelled at her.

"Because!" She yelled back.

Bickering bickering bickering. And the bickering continued for a couple of minutes and the other three watched and sweat dropped at the arguing senpais.

"Hmph! It's a girl thing; you'd never understand." Misaki finally declared. "Anyways..." She trailed off. "Mikan-chan!!" She yelped with joy. "You've been gone for what? Almost four years? I missed you so muchhhh!!" She said as she gave Mikan a big hug. "You left me with this idiot, " she narrowed her eyes at Tsubasa. "And furthermore, you left me without a kouhai."

"Hey!" Tsubasa yelled. "Mikaaaan," He said with another big hug.

_What's up with this guy. Stop hugging my Mikan, you bastard. You don't own her. _Akira glared at him with eyes like daggers.

_It's that Andou again, _Natsume thought annoyingly and yup, you guessed it, jealous. _Let go of my Mikan. Fucking asshole._

"Ohhh, excuse my manners. Hey!! I'm Andou Tsubasa!! Nice to meet you," he said to Ayu and Akira, shaking Ayu's hand, then Akira's all of a sudden.

Akira then pulled his hand out of Tsubasa's grip. "Don't touch me as you like," he said in a bit 'I'm-going-to-kill-you' kind of way.

"Excuse him please. He was in a good mood until a few minutes ago. I apologize," Ayu told Tsubasa. "I'm Yuuri Ayu, and this here is Toyama Akira," she said, introducing him nonetheless. "Akira, we have a reputation to keep. Remember that," she whispered to him. But he just grunted and looked away.

"Gomen," he said to Tsubasa and bowed to him.

"Eto, no need to apologize Toyama-san!" Tsubasa said and sweat dropped.

"Now, if you excuse me, something came up. I'll see you soon." Akira stated as an excuse to get away from a person he hated on his first day at the academy already.

"Akira-kun, you sure?" Mikan asked with concern.

"Don't worry, I'll be alright," he smiled a little. Akira began to walk away when...

He saw that Tsubasa put his arm on Mikan's shoulders and stopped walking. "Ne, Mikan-chan." He flicked her forehead lightly. "Baka," he said and left. He knew that if he stayed he would just be even more jealous and that he might end up doing something stupid again.

-

**Flashback**

**-  
**

They were at a restaurant about a few months ago.

The three cool-looking teenagers were laughing about something, eating lunch.

A guy came up to Mikan, "Hey there. You're kinda cute."

_What the hell... Not another one. Mikan doesn't need any lowlifes like you to hit on her, or even talk to her or look at her in the least. And what is your problem, insulting her. She's not 'CUTE;' she's way better you dick,_ Akira thought, getting enraged at this guy at the few word that he said.

Ayu was just watching what was happening, eating her lunch but still evidently watching everything.

"So, you wanna come with us and have some fun??" The guy said even though Mikan has been ignoring him the whole time. His hand made its way around Mikan's slim waist.

Akira stood up and his chair fell over with a loud thud. His head was down and his bangs loomed over his eyes.

"Teme (a rude term for 'you' in Japanese)..." Akira said and slowly began to look up to the guy. They guy on the other hand, was shaking a little, feeling the atmosphere's heaviness.

"Heh."Ayu smirked knowingly and told a couple of people to back down just in case anything happens. But she was still calm though, as expected. Probably already knowing what would happen.

"Get away from her you bastard." Akira said in a deadly tone. "Don't you dare put your filthy hand on her. She's too precious for the likes of you."

"What did you say?? You think you can do anything just because you're a pretty boy--"the guy started but got cut off by Akira. "Shut the hell up. You've got some nerve tlaking back to me.." Akira said as a small evil-looking grin crept onto his face; you could see the icy expression of his eyes. He raised a palm and out came... Nothing? Or so the guy thought. Out came a blue flame, which we all know, is barely visible.

"Die bastard!" Akira shouted.

**_To be continued..._**

* * *

**Author's Note 2 (February 2009) : Yeah. The next chapter is one of my favorites. :)**

**Author's Note 1: Hellooooo, I am so so so so so so very sorry. I know I haven't written so long so I tried with a lot of effort for this chapter. I had a change in mind so i basically changed the chapter form how it was supposed to be originally. hehe. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter! Reviews and comments, etc. are alweizs accepted.**

**Love lots, **

**(new pen name!) xXtwinklystar**


	7. We Finally Meet Again

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Gakuen Alice. But I still love it.**

**

* * *

Flashback**

_"Get away from her you bastard." Akira said in a deadly tone. "Don't you dare put your filthy hand on her. She's too precious for the likes of you."_

_"What did you say?? You think you can do anything just because you're a pretty boy--"the guy started but got cut off by Akira. "Shut the hell up. You've got some nerve talking back to me.." Akira said as a small evil-looking grin crept onto his face and on his face you could see the icy expression of his eyes. He raised a palm and out came.. nothing? Or so the guy thought. Out came a blue flame, which we all know, is barely visible. _

_"Die bastard!" Akira shouted._

* * *

-

**Chapter 7: We Finally Meet Again**

**-**

**-  
**

**Flashback (Continuation)  
**

**-  
**

"Akira-kun. Stop." Mikan cancelled out Akira's Alice.

At that, Akira flinched, filled with anger, hatred, hurt. All these feelings began to well up inside him, and because of his anger, he was about to argue with Mikan. _Why did she say that? Why is she defending that guy when she doesn't even know who the hell he is?_

"Don't get the wrong idea," the brunette continued, "I don't give a shit about this guy, do as you like. Just don't cause any ruckus. Want me to start it off?" Hearing that made Akira calm down. "Alright then," he said, that pleasure of the grievances and pains of others was already on his mind. Akira was somewhat of a sadist, and he let that side of him show without any shame.

"Hey, let's have a small talk, shall we?" Akira said to the guy, putting his arm on the guy's shoulders with a calm voice but had murderous intent in his eyes. The guy wanted to disregard Akira's offer but he was couldn't move because of Akira's arm around his neck. _Don't think that I'll let you go,_ Akira thought as the two males exited through the back door of the restaurant.

A scream was heard. But it grew fainter by the second and it was ignored.

A composed good-looking figure emerged from the back exit as though nothing happened. "Let's go." Akira said, regaining his calmness. "You okay, Sakura?" He asked. She nodded. "Good."

-

**End of Flashback**

**-**

"Ne, Mikan-chan, I'll go with Akira-kun, 'kay?" Ayu said. "Excuse me. I'll see you guys some other time. Have a good time. " Ayu bowed and ran after Akira.

"Wait -" Mikan started, but Ayu was already distanced far enough that she couldn't hear Mikan.

"Eh. Mikan-chan, let's go somewhere more comfortable." Misaki suggested. A couple of people were starting to gather, mostly guys and a few girls. Gathering for what, might you ask? Mikan of course. Let's not forget her beauty and her unannounced return.

More whispering and such could be heard. Phrases that could be heard were "Is that really Sakura Mikan there?"; "Is it true that she came back to the academy?";"Damn, she's hot. Too bad Tsubasa's around.";"Tch, who does that girl think she is?", phrases of shock, jealousy, etc.

Seeing those gathering people, Mikan nodded in agreement.

They were at that place that was near the lake. All three let their bodies fall onto the ground, exhausted from trying to get to that one place where people barely hung out.

Misaki looked at Mikan while they were lying on the ground. _Mikan.. you sure have grown to be beautiful... Why did you leave us all of a sudden though? It doesn't make any sense to me... _Misaki pondered, wondering what mysterious secrets the brunette had kept to herself and everything that built up in her all those years that she was gone. Even she isn't blind, seeing that Mikan's expression in her eyes had changed. From those cheery, lively eyes from four years ago to these eyes full of despair and sorrow. _She did seem like the Mikan I knew four years ago when she just saw us though. If I'm not wrong, some sort of happiness flickered in her eyes, _Misaki thought. _At least now she doesn't seem so lonely. I wonder what really happened though..._

"Mikan-chan?" the pink-haired senpai asked.

"Hai?" The innocent-looking brunette asked.

"Ne, why _did_ you leave us before, huh? Tell us Mikan-chan,"she asked Mikan directly, though doubtful of what could happen.

Remembering the reasons why she left the academy, that blank expression returned to her eyes. "I'm sorry. But I'll be going now," Mikan said as if she had no life whatsoever. "I'm really happy I finally got to see you guys again today. Ja, well I guess I'll be meeting you guys again sometime soon," she said as she turned her back against them, ready to leave. She smiled a little: she was happy, she really was, for having a chance to see them again. She walked further away as the two senpais watched her retreating back. _Why'd she have to ask that question..? If she hadn't, maybe... Just maybe, we could have enjoyed time together with our little reunion... Natsume! Hotaru! I hate you two so much... S_he thought and began running, a few droplets of tears sprouting from her eyes.

--

As the genius inventor Imai Hotaru was suggesting several plans to her "client" (Natsume), she wasn't sure of what to do. This one thing that was supposed to be so simple was so hard. They could think of no other plan that didn't involve confronting their beloved brunette straight forwardly and while she was alone. Other plans involved time and patience, which Natsume didn't have. Almost all of the things that Hotaru said went through one of Natsume's ears and went out through the other, as if he heard nothing at all.

_Mikan, _thought a well-concerned Natsume. "Oi! Forget it. Keep the money. I'm doing things my way. But in return, I'll get help from you whenever I need it. Ja," he said quickly and left. _I wanna do things my way. Waiting won't do anything. I want to know now. I need to know now_... The black cat picked up his pace, eager to talk to the brunette.

"Baka."

--

"Why is everyone asking me that? Can't they just let me be? I'm already here at the academy, so what's the problem?!" An upset brunette shouted. "Why... Can't they just..." She said in between sobs, "Let me be..." Everything around her became blurry because of her tears. "What does me leaving before concern them... They should just let things be and accept what happened and how I am now..." She sat against a sakura tree and hugged her knees, crying silently.

"Oi," someone's voice said, "What's wrong..." He asked almost calmly, but his curiosity was craving to know something, or somethings in fact. "Mikan," he whispered.

_Who is this person now... _Mikan thought. She looked up, finding a nicely shaped figure standing in front of her. It wasn't clear to her who it was, so she quickly wiped her tears and stood up to see who that person was more clearly. "What do you want," she snapped, irritated.

She was not responded with a reply, but with a warm hug that made her feel secure.

She had nothing to say. Looking at who hugged her, she saw raven-colored hair. _No way..._ She then saw his earring and instantly realized who it was. "What the hell are you doing?" She barked. "Don't touch me," she said harshly and quickly tried to release herself from the hug.

Her effort was futile, however. No matter how hard she tried, he was bigger than her, he was a male, of course, being naturally stronger. To add to that, he also went on missions which obviously made him stronger. "Mikan," he whispered.

"Don't 'Mikan' me!" She struggled to get free from his embrace. "First of all, you don't know me. That's rude and solely inappropriate. What the hell, let go already!" She growled annoyingly. "Secondly, my name is being tainted every time it comes out of you dirty mouth. And thirdly, you can't hold me down, you have no right to even touch me at all!" She shouted, now furiously because of failing at all attempts to break free from the now tight hug.

"Listen to me..." Natsume said as his eyes met hers. "You-" he started, but for some reason he was having a hard time to make the other words come out of his mouth.

More enraged than ever, the brunette used Ayu's Alice stone that she taught Ayu to make not so long ago.

A few crytals came from underneath Natsume, enough to just make him get away from Mikan, but not enough to injure him.

"Stupid ass," the irritated brunette said and left.

_Why...? Why'd you have to say those hurtful things to me... Where's the Mikan I knew from before? _He thought, upset.

_Give her back to me..._ "Give me back the Mikan I love..."

* * *

**Author's Note 2 (February 2009) : Aaaw! I like this chappie. :) But it seems that I haven't proofread most of my chapters...**

**Author's Note 1: Ne, so how this chapter?? Hope you all liked it :). Review please! Comments,suggestions, etc. are always welcome. No flames necessary . To those who reviewed, I'm sorry that this chapter was short! It was supposed to be longer but I decided to cut off the rest of the chapter and make it into chapter 8 instead since some people won't review and just read my story without showing at least a little appreciation. lol. Thanks for those who reviewd though, really. I wouldn't have updated this chapter but I'm gonna feel bad for those that actually reviewed. haha. oh and please tell me what the pairings should be! ex: AyuxRuka, AkiraxMikan, HotaruxNatsume, etc. Most votes are mostlikely to be paired up in this fanfic. Ja! I wonder when I should update the rest of the story... hm... give me a reason to update it ;P**


	8. Straight Ahead: Mikan

_Give her back to me..._ "Give me back the Mikan I love..."_  
_

* * *

-

**Chapter 8: Straight Ahead: Mikan**

**-  
**

"Natsume... No baka..." She said quietly with her eyes shut, in her nightgown. The wind was blowing against her face softly, placing strands of hair behind her shoulders. She sat on the window sill, looking at the cloudy night sky. A tear escaped her eye.

_I loved you... But you didn't seem to care. So why should I? _She remembered how he treated her. She couldn't forgive and forget. She loved him, but that didn't mean she'd wait for him forever, nor that she won't stop loving him, especially that her kindness and tolerance have been ignored and tossed away as if nothing. _You ignored me. I tried to make you notice but all I received in return was your coldness. But it doesn't matter now. I loved you, but that was in the past. Now is the present and things are different. My love for you is and has been no more._

_Since you didn't appreciate how I was, then I wonder how you like me now. _She got up and closed her window. She whispered, "Natsume" once more and went to sleep.

--

Meanwhile, in another person's room, he was pondering, thinking of her too.

_Mikan... H_e thought deeply, _Is it my fault? Is it my fault that you're not full of life and happiness anymore? _He thought as he leaned against the rails on his balcony, looking at the trees sway gently as the wind blew his hair in his face, as if angry at him for a sin of some sort. But he didn't care. He just cared of one matter for the time being.

_Why won't you consider my feelings? Do you really despise me that much...? _His heart throbbed of pain_. How do you see me... Through your eyes...?_

"Damn it," he said in a whisper-like voice, angrily. He punched the wall and flopped himself onto his bed. "Mikan..."

--

The following morning, a composed feminine walked through the doors of Gakuen Alice, Middle School Branch, Classroom 3-A. We all know who it is. None other than Sakura Mikan herself. Her luscious hair swayed gently from side to side as she headed towards her seat. 

_Stare._ Eyes were on Mikan. It was after all, just their second day there.

"Iinchou, ohayo." She smiled.

"Ohayo, Mikan-chan." He smiled back.

"Anna, Nonoko." She nodded in acknowledgment and smiled as well.

Other than that, she headed straight to her seat. "Akira, move your feet you lazy bum," she instructed to the snoozing guy whose feet were in the way of her getting to her seat, seeing that they were blocking her way, being on top of the desk in front of him.

"Eh?" He said lazily, getting out of his little sleeping trance. "Sakura." He put his feet on the ground. He suddenly then pulled her in a way that she was sitting on his lap comfortably, also putting his right arm on her shoulders. "So, mind telling me what took you so long yesterday?" He said calmly but with a spark of curiosity in his eyes. Only soon after, Natsume walked in with Ruka and some of their followers.

As usual, he walked to his seat; hands in pockets, messy hair, lazy, arrogant self_. What the hell... What are you doing you_... He thought, getting heated up, even though he looked thoroughly calm and collected on the outside.

"So tell me," he whispered into Mikan's ear. His face was awfully close.

Ruka sat down. Natsume should have followed next, since he was seated next to his bestfriend.

She could feel his warm breath on her ear. "Ano," she started to explain.

... But Natsume didn't go to his seat and instead went to the row behind it.

Mikan and Akira looked up. Annoyingly. "What do you want?" They both said in unison with a cold voice.

"Mine," Natsume said, grabbing hold of Mikan's arm and pulling her up. Because of him pulling her up so suddenly, as soon as the brunette got up, she had no balance and was about to fall over.

_Great_, she thought, expecting a thud from her body hitting the floor. She waited. Still no thud. So she decided to open her eyes and found herself lying on top of _**HYUUGA NATSUME**. _She blinked.

"How 'bout staying like this." Natsume grinned.

Despite his effort to make the smallest connection with his beloved, he received a good slap on the face.

"Don't go touching me like you own me. Bastard." She said sharply. There was, however, a small tint of pink--in other words blush, on her face. Embarrassment or something else, nobody knows.

She stood up and made her way to her seat. So did Natsume. _I won't give up on you that easily. I've waited too long..._

"Ohayo," a femininely dressed blonde guy appeared. "Ne, will Yuuri-san, Toyama-san, and Mikan-chan come up and get their stars please?"

They got up as they were told. As Akira passed by Natsume, they had a brief glaring contest, both unwilling to give Mikan to the other.

"Mikan gets ranked as a three-star, Toyama-san, three-star rank also, and Yuuri-san gets ranked two-star," Narumi announced. "Adieu!" he said, parting from the class and leaving them with their substitute teacher, as always. The substitute cowered in the corner, afraid of the students, even though he's known them for how many years already. The trio went back to their seats.

"Ne ne, Mikan-chan, you were right." Ayu said with a grin of excitement.

"I was right about what?" A confused brunette asked calmly.

"That Tsubasa guy, he's hot." Ayu grinned wider.

"Ah, of course she is." Mikan winked. Upon hearing that, Akira and Natsume, even Ruka a little, twitched in aggravation. Some guys that were watching Mikan from outside fell over with heart-shaped eyes when she winked, making the two boys twitch more.

"Get away from here," Akira said with a deadly glare. Of course, they obeyed. They still didn't know about Akira's Alice and didn't want to take any chances. He looked scary enough.

"I'm out of here. See you later Ruka." Natsume walked out of the classroom. He knew that if he stayed any longer, the class's temperature would rise even more. Natsume walked toward the sakura tree that he favored. It was the only one standing in the middle of that place. He went there whenever he needed peace and quiet. It wasn't too far from their classroom though.

In a way, Akira had a similar thought. So he as well, walked out of the classroom. _Looks like I've got competition. __I think I have the advantage over her anyways, so whatever, _Akira thought, looking for a quiet place to sit. _That Hyuuga person though, he might be trouble. _A little anger and jealousy started welling up inside him. "Hm? What's this?" He thought outloud as a pink petal fell on his nose."Cherry blossom petals?" He turned around to find a beautiful sakura tree there, alive and blooming to the fullest. _That looks like the perfect place to stay._ He approached the tree.

"You..." the two rivals said in unison and glared at each other intensely.

Natsume jumped off the tree branch he was sitting on. "What's up with you and Polka dots?" Natsume asked with determination.

"Polka dots?" Akira asked in confusion. "Oh, you mean Mikan-chan." He smirked.

"I have no intention of telling you. Besides, you don't need to know if there's something between us or not," Akira replied smugly. "It's none of you business, _Hyuuga-san. _Ja." Akira started to walk away from the tree.

"Why you..." Natsume was intimidated too easily. He grabbed Akira's shoulder and gripped onto it tightly.

"Hmph. Don't touch me." Akira glared and tried to flip Natsume over, but Natsume landed perfectly.

"If it's a fight you want then it's a fight you'll get." Akira said dimly, raising his hand as he produced a blue flame on it. Natsume too, used his Alice and charged at Akira. Natsume finally noticed what Akira's alice was just in time: he was almost hit with a dagger made out of fire.

--

"Eh, Ayu-chan, where did Akira-kun go?" Mikan asked.

"I dunno. Since when did he leave?" Ayu shrugged.

"I'm gonna go look for him."

"Alright. I'll wait here. I guess I'll try writing some poems or something..." Ayu said. "Hm... Or maybe I should sleep... ... ..." Ayu continued thinking of what she should do and Mikan left.

--

"Where'd he go now?" Mikan thought out loud to herself. She the sakura tree and heard faint voice from there. "Maybe he went there. What a loser." She began walking towards the tree.

--

"Mikan's mine!" Natsume shouted, "Don't... you," he said, panting as he was trying to punch Akira, "Touch... her... again."

Natsume was on top of Akira, but Akira broke free and jumped a few feet away. "In your dreams."

"Fxck you!" Natsume shouted angrily as he charged towards Akira, using his alice again.

"Go to hell."He looked at his opponent in a murderous way and also charging at him.

They clashed.

A gasp was heard.

The two figures that were fighting look to see who it was. Both were panting, one leg kneeling on the ground and the other leg was used to put their arm on for support.

"What the hell..."She said quietly in a stunned voice.

"Mikan!" both shouted.

-

**Mikan's POV**

-

Am i dreaming? Or were those two fighting over **me**?

...I _**must**_**** be dreaming...

"Akira...?" I looked at him. I turned my head and looked at the other person. "Natsume...?"

_They _like **_me_**?!

-

**End of POV**

**-  
**

Mikan stood froze right then and there, just standing still. She snapped back into reality as the voices of the two boys rang in her head.

_Akira... and... Natsume?_

* * *

**Author's Note 2 (February 2009): I guess writing action scenes just isn't my forte. D: **

**Author's Note 1: Do you guys like it? I just liked the first part. But anyways, review please! Hm... Who should she pick though... Akira or Natsume? Hehe, sorry if this chapter wasn't all that. Suggestions, comments,etc? Oh and vote for the pairings still!! Thanks!**

**-xXtwinklystar**


	9. Straight Ahead: Mikan II

_Mikan stood froze right then and there still._

_She snapped back into reality as the voices of the two boys rang inher head._

_"Akira... or Natsume?"she thought confusedly.

* * *

_

_-  
_

**Chapter 9: Straight Ahead: Mikan II**

**-  
**

She looked at them. She stood still there for a couple of minutes, her eyes wide.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly as she hurried towards Akira, full of concern.

Natsume, on the other hand, was hurt. He kneeled on the ground, looking down. A few tears of anger and hurt slid down his cheeks. _I won't give up on you..._ He thought, trying to fight his anguish tears. _It's a promise..._ He watched Mikan and Akira's retreating figures: Akira's arm was on Mikan's shoulders for support, him being wary from their battle.

"Akira, do you want to go back to the classroom?" The girl asked. "Or we could go to my room. I'm sure that I'll have a first aid kit in the medicine cabinet or something. After all, we got ranked as three stars."

"Ano," Akira said with hesitation. Bad Akira. Perverted thoughts appeared in his head, if he was _alone_ with _Mikan_, in _her_ room.

"Akira?" The brunette asked again, getting more concerned about him.

"Oh... It's nothing..." He said in a low voice, looking away from her because of his face turning red of entertaining thoughts. "I'm fine, let's go back to class..."

As they entered their classroom, eyes were on them again.

The NatsumeRuka Fan Club was renamed as NatsumeRukaAkira Fan Club, or NRA for short. The fan girls screeched and rushed to Akira. Mikan moved out of the way from the stampede of mad fan girls.

"Toyama-sama, are you alright?" A fan girl asked.

"I'm fine." Akira said straight forwardly. _What the hell... I don't need to be bothered by these bitches right now. Don't they know how to give a guy some space? _He thought otherwise, even though his face didn't show it.

"Akira-kun, if you need any help feel free to ask me." Another girl said in a flirtatious voice.

"_Akira-kun_?! Who said you could call him that?" A random girl shouted.

"Yeah! Show some respect!" Another shouted.

Akira began to lose his patience with all these noisy girls. "Get out of my way!" Akira shouted irritatingly. "Damn."

Several people were shocked at his attitude--mostly his fan girls. The charming Akira they thought he was isn't who he is at all. But Akira could care less. Right now his only concern was Mikan, Mikan, and Mikan, so he walked casually to his seat.

After their moment of shock at Akira's behavior, the fan girls just fainted with admiration and ended up liking Akira more.

"Eeeep!" A fan girl shouted again.

"I never knew Akira-sama could be so cold!"

"I know right! I liked the charming Akira, but I like the cool Akira even more!"

They giggled and squealed like idiots.

While the others thought,_ Oh god..._

"Eh? What took you guys so long?" Ayu asked, just noticing the two's presences.

"Found Akira. No questions asked." Mikan replied flatly.

After what seemed like an eternity, classes ended.

Ayu and Akira headed back to their dorms right away, not really in the mood to look around the rest of the campus. Besides, they were lazy and just wanted to get away from their crazed fans. The only ones left in the classroom were Hotaru and Mikan.

_This it it... I should talk to her... _Thought the ebony-haired girl.

Mikas was about to leave when...

Misaki and Tsubasa popped their heads inside the classroom. "Mikan-chan!" they yelled excitedly, grabbed her arms and quickly dashed out of the classroom, dragging Mikan with them.

Hotaru's eyes beamed sadness and a bit of anger. "Mikan... I miss you..."

--

**At Central Town...**

"Mikan-chan! We're so sorry for dragging you out here so suddenly!" Tsubasa and Misaki cried.

Mikan turned her back on them.

"Mikan-chan! We just really missed you and wanted to hang out with you," the two high schoolers whined as if they weren't eighteen years old already. "We're sorry..." They practically begged for forgiveness.

A small chuckle was heard.

"Eh?" Both senpais said.

Mikan turned around, giggling happily. "You guys are so funny," she stated, "You should have seen your faces!" The brunette laughed and her two senpais started laughing too.

"So, where are we going?" The tangerine-girl asked. **(A/N: Or maybe orange instead of tangerine since "mikan" means orange in japanese...)**

A smile crept onto their faces. 

_Uh-oh, I don't like that look on their faces right now, _Mikan thought. _Oh boy..._

And they dragged Mikan again, speeding towards the Howalon cart.

"Let me get six large Howalon boxes and two medium ones, please!" Tsubasa ordered.

"Demo, Tsubasa-senpai, why so much?" Mikan asked. "Isn't that a bit too much to pay for just Howalons?" She asked, surprised.

Tsubasa took the bag of Howalons and they started to walk away from the cart. "Well, the medium sized ones are for me and Misaki here," he started, "And the rest are for you."

"Demo-"the brunette began to prostest but was cut off by Misaki. "Ne, Mikan-chan, the rest are all yours." The pink-haired senpai smiled widely. "Besides, we know how much you love these!" She said as she stuffed one into Mikan's mouth.

_They remembered..._ Mikan thought happily and blushed because of embarrassment of her love of Howalons.

--

The two senpais along with their kouhai were laughing, reminiscing of the good times they had before.

They came upon an empty park, filled with cherry blossom trees. Mikan ran towards the swings and sat down. Misaki sat on the one beside Mikan and Tsubasa sat on the ground cross-legged.

Silence.

"The sakura trees are pretty, aren't they," Mikan said in a gentle voice, staring at the trees as if they had a special significance of some sort. She closed her eyes and murmured something inaudible.

"Mikan-chan," Misaki said in a a sort of sad voice. "Gomen..."

"For what, senpai? There's nothing for you to be sorry about," Mikan replied calmly with a smile.

"For asking why you left before. I'm so sorry... I shouldn't try barging in on your personal thoughts Mikan..."

"Oh..." Was the only thing Mikan could say. She gripped the chains that held the swing and looked down. "It's alright," she paused. "I was just startled, that's all... I can tell you now though..." She started to move the swing back and forth.

"I left because I was stupid. I was so blind that I actually considered those that treated me wrong as my 'friends,'" she said calmly, but with a hint of sadness in the tone of her voice. "I was hurt... But mostly, it was because I hurt..." She swallowed and continued. "Mostly because I got hurt by the one I loved most..." She stopped the swing and just continued to look down.

"Mikan..." Misaki whispered as she and Tsubasa hugged their kouhai. That moment, Mikan just let them hug her and shed as much silent tears as she wanted.

"You probably know who it is right?" Mikan continued and wiped away her tears. "I..." She hesitated. "I _loved_ Natsume. One day, when I was being picked on by some of his and Ruka's fan girls again, he helped me. I remember it all perfectly..." Another tear slid down her face. "We were at that sakura tree that he always slept under... He told me that everything would be alright... And most of all... He told me that he loved me..." More tears. "I was so happy to hear that. I hugged him... And I received a kiss in return. Soon after, as we were sitting under the sakura tree as usual, he gave me a poem-letter sort of thing." She began to recite the poem-letter that he gave her:

"Mikan:

I love you,  
And you alone.

I do not know  
If I have shown it completely,  
But I will try my best  
To give you what you deserve.

I am really grateful  
That you were my light,  
Saving me from the abyss of  
Darkness that was drowning me  
Little by little everyday.

But getting to just know you  
Is worth everything that I've gone through,  
Because nothing compares  
To the happiness that you give me.

I promise that  
I'll never hurt you.  
I promise to love you:  
More than anything in this world.

And all I ask  
Is for your love in return

Thank you  
For everything;  
Especially for making me  
Happier than anyone else ever has...

-Natsume "

A sob from Mikan was heard. Her feelings were hurt too much to have silent tears. She wanted her feelings to be heard, not to be ignored and kicked aside. "Then," she continued, "that bastard said the coldest things to me the soon after he gave me that fxcking letter. Hotaru didn't want to see me. It felt like everyone hated me. So why should I stay?" She wiped her tears with a handkerchief. "But that's all over now..." She said emotionlessly. "I have nothing left for those people but hate and anger."

"Natsume you fxcking liar! I hate you!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

"I hate you... I hate you... I hate you..." She quietly said in between sobs. "I hate you..."

--

It was already dark.

Mikan was headed towards the dormitory.

Her senpais couldn't walk her because a teacher called for them right away when they got back to the campus.

_At least I let them know already. And at least I feel more relieved and oh, I don't know... _She thought. _It just felt good to let it all out..._

She passed by it again. She passed by the sakura tree and couldn't help but gaze at it's beauty; especially since it was night already and the moon shone on it perfectly. So she decided to go there.

She sat down under the tree.

"Oi, you're leaning against my tree."

_I know that voice... _She thought cautiously. "Hyuuga." She stood up.

He jumped down from the tree.

"Did you come here to tell me that you realized that you've fallen madly in love with me?" He smirked.

"Don't make me laugh." She started to walk away but stopped. "How on earth do you expect me to fall in love with a worthless, disgusting piece of garbage?"

He pinned Mikan against the tree.

"What the hell are you doing, Hyuuga?!"

He crushed his lips against hers. She tried to push him off, but she couldn't.

Her eyes widened. _Stop it,_ she thought.

He broke free from the kiss and they gasped for air.

"Why won't you kiss me back?" He asked sternly.

She didn't reply.

"Answer me!" Natsume shouted and punched the spot right beside of Mikan's head, hitting the tree. "Why... Why do you have to keep hurting me like this?"

Mikan stared at him full of hate and sorrow, and did nothing but start walking away again.

She stopped. "Because," she said, "I hate you, Hyuuga." And she continued her way to her dorm, leaving Natsume there alone. He just stood there as if he had no life.

* * *

**Author's Note 2 (Feb 2009) : Holy crap, that poem sucked! I wanted to delete it. No wonder I hate poems...**

**Author's Note 1: Sorry if this chapter sucked. Review please! Constructive critism allowed, I guess. How was it? Comments, suggestions, etc. feel free to tell me. I wonder what I should do... Hm... Sorry for grammatical and spelling errors! I don't like proof reading much. haha. So if you don't understand something just PM me, okay?**

**And thanks to those who reviewed the previous chapter!**

**-Twinkly  
**


	10. Halloween

**Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated mostly for it being Halloween. I thought it would be a nice chapter. And you know what I just noticed? Well, I forgot to put a disclaimer in chapter 8 & 9, so here it is:**

**Disclaimer: By all means, I do not own Gakuen Alice and never will--even if I threatened to jump off a building and kill myself.  
**

**

* * *

**

_"Answer me!" Natsume shouted and punched the spot right beside of Mikan's head, hitting the tree. "Why..." he paused. "Why do you have to keep hurting me like this?"_

_Mikan stared at him full of hate and sorrow, and did nothing but start walking away again._

_She stopped. "Because," she said, "...I hate you Hyuuga." and continued her way to her dorm, leaving Natsume there alone, and he just stood there as if he had no life. _

**

* * *

**

-

**Chapter 10: Halloween.**

**-  
**

Loud dance music could be heard from the large bar-like room now filled with people in costumes. It had been about a week since Natsume had that "talk" with Mikan. Since then, Natsume cut classes and obviously avoided Mikan whenever he saw her. But she didn't care.

It was now around six in the evening on the thirty-first of October. Where? The Halloween Dance.

Standing by the entrance doors was no other than Sakura Mikan herself. She wore a leather black sleeveless top whose hem ended right above her navel, and a leather black mini skirt that was about a few inches above her knee. Almost like a micro mini skirt. Fishnet stockings were on her legs and long, black boots with a thin heel. She was also wearing small horns on her head and large silver hoop earrings. To top it all off was a small layer of eyeliner which made her look just perfect and well... _Slightly_ evil and just enough red lipstick to make her lips ever-so-tempting to kiss.

As usual, guys were staring at her, but more than usual today. It can't be helped now can it? She looked hotter than hot.

Being used to that seeing that it happens all the time, she ignored them and walked straight to the counter with Akira and Ayu.

Ayu was dressed as an angel. Her outfit was exactly the same as Mikan's, except hers was white instead of black, had no fishnet stockings on, but she didn't like the thing that was supposedly supposed to be her halo so she tossed it in the garbage. And she had a small pair of white wings. Akira, thinking it was a waste of time to dress up, just wore his usual polo shirt with the top two buttons of his shirt unbuttoned, revealing his hard chest muscles a bit and black jeans with his black trench coat. He was just relieved that he got to wear what he usually wore before he came to the academy for once.

The gorgeous-looking brunette sat down and immediately ordered a martini. Akira was staring at Mikan, gazing at her from head to toe over and over again. His face began to have shades of red on it, seeing as how much of Mikan's body was showing, not to mention her curves were shaped perfectly and stood out because of her outfit.

"Hm? What are you gawking at Akira-kun?" The devilish Mikan asked with curiosity.

She received no reply. Apparently, he was off in lala land, thinking certain thoughts about Mikan. What a tainted mind he has.

She waved her hand in his face. "Akira?"

"Ah? Ohhh." He sweat dropped. _Damn. Why does she have to wear that as her costume? I mean, you could practically see her ass if she bent down! I bet those stupid fan boys of hers are going to keep gawking at her all night long, _he thought. "Oh, nothing. You look really nice tonight, Mikan."

"Eeeeeh!?" A shocked Ayu exclaimed. "What?! Are you blind?" She said spontaneously as she popped up behind Mikan from who knows where. "Look at her! She's practically the definition of hot!"

"Hn," was his only reply, although in the inside, he was thinking _I already know that you dimwit._

Meanwhile, a pair of bloody crimson eyes were glued onto her. You all know who it is. He wore a black tuxedo-looking suit: it was all ruffled and messy. In addition, he had a black mask (only around eyes, not his whole face) so that his fan girls wouldn't start swarming around him again. He licked his lips. He wanted her. Badly. But because of his pride he couldn't apologize for his stupidity.

"People in their right minds don't take pride in what they do and how they do it," Hotaru said to herself, watching Natsume not so far away. She sipped on her glass of mojito. The amethyst-eyed girl chuckled. "Who am I to talk. Look at me," she said to no one in particular. "Criticizing Hyuuga when I should criticize myself. I guess I'm not one of those people in their right minds..." Her voice trailed off quietly, "...but I should be in my right mind if I ever want to at least talk to Mikan decently ever again."

Mikan practically slammed her glass down on the counter, finished with her second glass of martini. She was about to order another one, when a mysterious man approached her.

"May I have this dance?" The guy asked. Akira looked at the him and observed his features, trying his best not to send a death glare to the guy.

**Mikan's POV**

_Eh? _I thought. _He wants a dance, from moi (me)? _Hm... He looks quite nice... Sexy, I must say... I was already a little drunk. So I said, "Sure, why not," and held my hand out for him. He took it and we made our way to the dance floor. Haha, Akira-kun looks so hot... But when he's mad it makes him look all the better...

**Natsume's POV**

_Am I imagining or did she just say she would dance with me? _I guess she didn't notice who I was yet. She looks so hot... I wish I could claim her as mine... I don't wanna share her with anyone else, I want her all to me. **(A/N: Selfish, aren't we Natsume?) **_Shit. Control yourself Hyuuga, don't let your hormones get the best of you... Sure I'd like to tap that ass and all but... What the hell am I thinking?? _Uh-oh. She's looking at me weirdly. I laughed nervously. Good thing she ignored it. _She is gorgeous, though... Too perfect for words to describe..._

**Normal POV**

The two reached the dance floor and a new song started playing. It took them a few minutes, but they got the beat of the music and danced along with it. Both of the figures danced gracefully, making their way to the center of the dance floor without even noticing it. Nothing else was on Natsume's mind except the thought of admiring how beautiful Mikan was, and how good she was at everything she did. Mikan on the other hand, ignored everything around her and even forgot that she was just dancing with this mysterious heart throb.

The music stopped and Mikan immediately opened her eyes, hearing an applaud from the crowd. _"Eheh, I guess I forgot that I was dancing again, huh," _Mikan thought to herself. Natsume, wanting the moment to last forever thought, _What? Don't tell me it's over already,_ and frowned.

"Thanks for the dance,"Mikan said and kissed the guy's cheek and ran off back to her friends.

Natsume turned red and walked back to his seat as well.

Hotaru, who was watching the two as well, smiled at the little scene. _I can't believe how many people can't tell that he's Natsume. I thought it was quite obvious, _the girl thought amusingly.

"Ja, Mikan-chan. I'm leaving. This place is putting me to sleep," Akira said as the brunette approached him and Ayu. The truth was, Akira just left because he might end up killing everyone that dared to even just look at **his** Mikan

"What? You're not staying to drink with me?" Mikan asked. "I guess it can't be helped. See you tomorrow then!" She smiled, motioning for the bar tender to come over to get her order. "Give me some vodka." She ordered. Yeah yeah, I know, they're underage to be drinking but hey, they're teenagers. And teenagers tend to be rebellious. Right guys? "Mikan-chan, I'm gonna go and try flirting with that guy over there." Ayu pointed at some high schooler. "He looks cute. Heehee," she laughed in a cute voice, obviously intoxicated. Not that much that she would sleep with the guy though! "Remember to be a good girl Ayu," Mikan winked at her and continued, "Afterall, you _are _dressed as an angel."

Mikan drank her third glass of vodka in a single gulp. **(A/N: You guys know that they serve vodka in those tiny glasses because it's a strong alcoholic beverage and any NORMAL person wouldn't drink a glass in just a gulp or two, right?) **

"Nnnn..." She wailed and rested her head on her hand. Drinking all those glasses of vodka made her more intoxicated, of course. She placed her hand onto her head, feeling a short pain of a headache of some sort from drinking that much alcohol. She was making her way out of the blasted place, loud music thumping still, even though it was already late at night.

Natsume, annoyed of being asked by a couple of girls to dance with him was having a hard time keeping his eyes on Mikan. He turned and looked at the counter, thinking that she would still be there, but to his surprise, she wasn't. He started to panic a bit. _Great. Just great. Where'd that little girl go now??_

As the drunk brunette was about to exit the place, a few guys went in front of her and blocked her way.

"Hey there, miss," one said, flashing a smile and trying to look cool.

"Get out of my way." Was her only reply.

"Aww, don't be like that, miss," the other guy said. "We just wanna have some fun." He put his arm around Mikan's shoulder.

_"What the hell do these bastards want??" _She thought. Being the drunk person that she was, she was running out of patience and was about to kick him directly on his pretty little face.

"Let go of her." Someone said.

They all turned to see who it was.

_Heeey, it's that sexy mask guy,_ Mikan thought and smiled smugly.

"So she's with you?" A guy asked nervously, seeing how threatening the guy looked. "Uhm , okay, so, we'll be going now! Bye!" He said and ran off with his companions.

"You alright?" He asked Mikan. She nodded.

Finally outside, Mikan began jumping around a bit, and turned to the "yummy" guy. "Come with meh," she said and motioned for him to follow. He followed anyways.

The two were secluded in a pathway. It was the pathway to the dorms, maybe? Cherry blossom trees were alongside the pathway; the falling petals made it all the more mesmerizing.

Instead of going straight though, she made a turn, going deeper into the direction of where the cherry blossom trees were. Certain that no one else was to see them, Mikan leaned against a tree.

"You know what?" She said to the guy.

"Hm?"

"Come here," she whined impatiently.

He came close enough that she tiptoed and whispered into his ear seductively, "I think you're sexy," and smiled.

"Oh really?" he said sarcastically. "I think I'm more like hotter than hot." He jerked a smile.

"Conceited."

Note that their position is that Mikan is leaned against a tree and Natsume is right on top of her.

"Whate-" he was about to mutter, finding his lips locked with that of the girl's.

She placed her hand behind his neck and the other on his back. He, in response, wrapped his arms gently around her waist as they indulged deeper into the kiss.

From what started as a soft, gentle kiss turned into a fierce tongue battle and passionate kissing, seeing who was the better kisser between them. She broke from the kiss, breathing heavily for air. He lunged at her to continue, but she placed her index and middle fingers on his lips and smiled again. "Maybe next time," she said and left, leaving a speechless Natsume there, with lipstick marks on his lips and spots near it.

Then it dawned him, she still didn't know that it was him!

_But..._ He thought, _Maybe it would be better off this way..._

He grunted, remembering that she bent over right in front of him, letting him see complete view of not only her underwear but her ass as well.

"So it's a lacy, black underwear now, huh?" He smiled a little and sat at the sakura tree for a little while longer, enjoying the moment while he could.

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**Author's Note 1: So, how was it?? Did you like it? I liked this chapter that I wrote. Review please! "Constructive criticism" (flames) are welcome, I guess. Comments, questions, suggestion, etc., feel free to PM or ask me. Oh, and sorry for any grammatical and/or spelling errors. Ja!**

**Thanks to the following who reviewed the previous chapter. :)  
**

**-Aimee**


	11. Youichi

**Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing. :) & Watch the anime Kamichama Karin! It's kawaii and it's like Gakuen Alice a little. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice. The Great Higuchi Tachibana does..**

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_Then it dawned him, she still didn't know that it was him!_

_But... He thought, Maybe it would be better off this way..._

_He grunted, remembering that she bent over right in front of him, letting him see a complete view of not only her underwear but also her ass.  
_

_"So it's a lacy, black underwear now, huh?" He smiled a little and sat at the sakura tree for a little while longer, enjoying the moment while he could.

* * *

_

_-  
_

**Chapter 11: Youichi**

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**

It was 7:20 in the morning and Mikan walked into the classroom groggily. She still felt tired and all from last night; the partying, the kissing, everything.

"Ohayo, Ayu... Akira..." She said softly as she quickly put her head on her desk.

"What's wrong with her?" Ayu looked at Mikan strangely. She stared at the sleeping brunette. "She seems just like a little girl..."

"Yeah," Akira agreed and let out a small smile as well. _It makes her look so innocent when she sleeps. She's so cute... _He unconsciously stroked the sleeping girl's hair, lost in his thoughts and being mesmerized, as if under a spell. He chuckled to himself_. I can't believe that a person like you is actually real... I think you're just perfect..._

"Akira-kun," said Ayu, trying to imitate how Mikan calls him.

"Huh?" The silver-haired guy said, snapping back to reality. A small pink blush appeared on his face, realizing what he's done.

"Shut up, Yuuri!" He said to Ayu, more red now than before.

He then grinned evilly, "So, what exactly do you think of Mikan's senpai? What's his name? Tsuburu? Something like that..."

"I-I," Ayu stammered, turning red as a tomato.

Akira started smirking. No, he doesn't laugh. He only does on very, very rare occassions. Like a once in a blue moon event. He thinks laughing attracts too much attention to him and it feels uncomfortable and makes him lose his 'image.'

"Hmph!" She said as she bonked poor Akira's head. "And his name's TSU-BA-SA, Tsubasa, _pendejo_." **(A/N: Pendejo is a Spanish word meaning "moron" or something similar. Ayu knows Spanish because she's half-Spanish and half-Japanese. A rare mix.)**

"Itai!"

"Serves you right."

"You started it, you idiot."

"So what? It's true, isn't it?"

"SO?! What I said is true too!"

They argued _quietly _so that their little argument wouldn't really wreck their reputation. They were glaring at each other intensely. **(A/N: Or were they gazing in each others' eyes? Hm... I wonder...)**

"Mmmf..." A small muffling sound was heard.

"Huh?" They two arguing figures turned to see who it was.

"Aaah..." Another small muffling sound came from the just awoken Mikan.

"Mikan-chan! Akira was being mean to me," a chibi Ayu whined and cried waterfalls to Mikan.

"Akira." Mikan sent a death glare to Akira while Ayu was smirking without Mikan seeing.

Just then, there was a PA announcement. "Sakura Mikan, please come to the main office. Sakura Mikan, please come to the main office. Thank you."

"Eh. Wonder what that's all about." The brunette said annoyingly, getting up from her seat.

She walked through the doors and out of the classroom, oblivious to Natsume and Ruka, who just came in. Natsume secretly took a quick glance at her.

_I guess she doesn't know after all, _the black cat thought, feeling both joy and sadness. He was happy because if Mikan didn't know that it was him then she wouldn't get mad at him even more for kissing her like that. But he was also sad because he wanted Mikan to know it was him, to let her know how he feels... How sorry he feels, hoping that she would forgive him.

--

Mikan knocked on the wooden doors of the teacher's lounge.

"Come in."

The door opened slowly and quietly, revealing an anxious Mikan. "You called for me?" She asked politely and with great respect.

"Oh, Sakura-san. Please be seated here a moment. I'll go tell Jinno-sensei that you're here." A female assistant told her.

The brunette just nodded with approval in return.

Moments later, the strict teacher with brown hair and his stern eyes, along with a frog on his shoulder came. "Sakura-sama." He said and bowed halfway.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"This might be sudden for you," he started, "But... You're one of the future owners of the academy. You're father was-"

"I know." she said calmly, legs crossed.

"Then you also know that..."

She nodded. "So what do you want me to do for you?" She asked, sipped her tea and put it back down on the small table in front of her. Where'd she get the tea from? Don't ask.

"Well... You see, some other organization has been taking students from us, one after another." The teacher said with a tone of seriousness in his voice. "The ones they've been trying to kidnap are the ones that have either special or rare alices, or may be of any value to them."

She listened patiently and took another sip from her cup of tea.

"So far they've only managed to get two of the elementary students and... Anyway, with your second Alice, we think that you're best fit to do this..." He then added, "That is, if you want to."

"Sure, I'll do it." she Said plainly.

"Y-Y-You will?" Jinno-sensei stammered, obviously surprised. "Th-thank you, Sakura-sama. It'll be tomorrow night." He said and bowed. "One more thing," he stopped in his tracks. "The two kids that they have captivated are Hijiri Youichi and Souta Kanae. Both are in Elementary branch B, Classroom 2. The person escorting you to the located area will be waiting for you at the front gates at around eleven tomorrow night. Good luck." He went back to doing his work.

She exited the office. "Youichi, huh?" she said and chuckled to herself. "This might turn out to be one hell of a rescue mission." She said to herself as she made her way back to her classroom.

--

"Ne, Mikan-chan, where were you?" Ayu asked, taking another bite into her lobster sandwich. Akira gave it to her since she was pestering him earlier for it. She was only a two-star, and Akira was a three-star. So naturally, Akira got better food.

The brunette smirked. "I've got a little mission." She leaned on her chair and had support from the table so that she wouldn't lose balance and tip over. "Seems that I have to save some elementary kids from some organization." **(A/N: No, the organization in my story isn't the Anti Alice Organization. In fact, just ignore the fact that the AAO even exists because I don't think I'm gonna mention them in my story.)**

"Oh... seems boring." Ayu said, "But then again, it surely has to be even more fun that this academy."

"Well, there is this boy..." Mikan said entertainingly, amusement in her eyes.

Hearing this, Akira's eyebrows twitched. _Boy? What boy? Who exactly is this boy? _Random questions started to flood his mind, thinking bad of the boy that Mikan was talking about, even though he hasn't even seen him yet, nor heard much about him.

"A boy?" Ayu payed even more attention to Mikan. "What's he like? Is he hot?" Ayu asked and giggled.

"Ah, no no. You've got it all wrong," Mikan sighed. "He's only seven years-old. I said he was in the elementary branch, remember?"

Akira calmed down. Ayu let out an "oh," disappointed.

_My God, Ayu, if I didn't know you any better I'd think you were a huge flirt. _Mikan sweat dropped at the thought. _Eh, I guess you're just opening you're heart to any possibilities... Unlike me... I shouldn't have just waited on one person..._

"Oi, Sakura-chan. Eat." Akira popped a piece of sushi into her mouth.

"Mmmf mmm nnf fff!!" Mikan swallowed the sushi in her mouth. "It's _MIKAN-_chan, not _SAKURA_-chan!" She sighed. "Well, at least you're getting the hang of it." She smiled and laughed softly to herself.

"Baka." He said and stuffed another piece into her mouth. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

She swallowed the food that he stuffed into her mouth again. "Why'd you do that for?" She asked sternly, sending him a glare.

"Because you had your big mouth open. It was disgusting." He said and ate a piece of sushi for himself. "Besides, if you don't feed yourself lunch, someone has to feed you." He shrugged.

"Well you could have fed me something that was sweet..." She muttered under her breath.

Unfortunately for her, Akira heard this. He popped a cookie into her mouth.

"Mmmf shmmmg kjnnmmf," the brunette tried saying.

"What? Too big?" Akira looked at the brunette and smiled inwardly.

The cookie really was big. Half of it was still outside of Mikan's mouth.

Mikan stared blankly, and stopped making those 'mmf shnmmm mjdhjjjfff' sounds.

Akira bit off the part of the cookie while it was still sticking out of her mouth. "Tasty." He said.

Mikan blinked twice. Mikan felt her face heat up as it began to blush various shades of red.

_Did his lips just brush against mine? _The brunette thought.

"Better?" Akira asked, showing one of his rare smiles to her.

She nodded.

He was wiping some cookie crumbs off her mouth which made her turn even more red.

"Thanks..." She said quietly and got her own share of food before he could stuff anymore into her mouth.

"Ohohohoho," Ayu, who was watching the whole thing laughed hilariously. "You two looked so cute and sweet!!"

"Urussei." Akira sent a glare to her. Mikan on the other hand, was preoccupied with blushing.

Akira flicked a piece of otoro ("giant fish" or "tuna belly"; an expensive seafood) at Ayu.

"Why you..." a nerve popped out of her head. "I will forgive you this time because of your lovey-dovey-ness but next time you'll be a dead man, Akira."

"Whatever."

At another table occupied by only a few boys...

"Natsume, you okay?" A boy with caring blue eyes asked worriedly. _Here you go again... _Ruka sighed. _You get jealous over anything that involves Mikan, don't you? _He thought, amused with how Natsume shows his affections. How the Black Cat showed his own affections were quite peculiar.

The temperature started to rise a little; Ruka noticed Natsume's jealousy and tried to make him not make the temperature so hot again.

There was no reply from Natsume. His ruby eyes were directed in one direction, and that was where Mikan was, with "that Akira person," according to Natsume. _How dare he... Trying to steal a kiss from my Mikan... Too bad! _Natsume thought. _I already stole her first AND second kiss! _

**(A/N: Natsume is overacting here, isn't he? Calm down dude...)**

_I guess that that's why I let go of Mikan... Natsume cares much more about her than I do... _Ruka smiled to himself. "Natsume, don't worry, calm down."

"I'm not worrying. And I **_am_** calm. What the hell are you talking about Ruka?" Natsume shot back at him.

"That's exactly what I'm taking about." Ruka muttered quietly.

"What?"

"N-nothing." Ruka sweat dropped at his bestfriend's behavior.

--

"You guys wanna help me train after lunch??" Mikan asked after they finished eating.

"Sure."

"Why not."

"Great. You guys get to help me train... And we get to be excused from class too!" Mikan smiled.

"I'm definitely going then." Ayu chirped.

"Eh. Okay."

--

Girls were glaring at Mikan, jealous of what happened.

"How disgusting." One said.

"Who does she think she is?" Said another person.

"Trying to steal a kiss from Akira-sama..."

"Well, actually, it was the opposite and she is kinda pretty..." Another one of the girls said.

The others turned at her with eyes like daggers, as if they were ready to kill someone.

"I-I mean, yeah! She sucks!" The girl said nervously.

My, my, how stupid. These girls don't know how to accept facts, do they? I wonder when it'll get through their thick skulls that Mikan is beautiful, and even if Ruka, Natsume, and Akira didn't like her, it's not like they would like those bitches that were obsessed over them too. I mean, come on, who would want to date some crazed fan girl?

It was already around nine in the evening, and Ayu, Mikan, and Akira were still training.

"Throw.. More... Daggers... Ayu...!" Mikan shouted, panting.

Ayu did as she was told. The about two dozen crystal daggers were sent flying Mikan's way, but fell to the ground when they reached a couple of inches from her.

Mikan here was trying to hone her skills in using her Stealing Alice, and this time she used the Barrier Alice that she copied from some guy from before.

Akira threw a slightly large fireball at her, too. Her barrier weakened.

"You can do better than that, guys," Mikan said.

"But Mikan-chan... Are you sure it's alright?" Ayu asked worriedly.

She nodded. "Keep going."

Ayu sighed. She threw more crystals at Mikan which were harder and stronger this time, and Akira threw a bigger fireball this time.

"Itai.." Mikan grabbed her arm. One of the crystals had hit her.

Ayu and Akira rushed to her.

"Gomen..." Ayu was about to burst into tears.

"I told you not to worry, didn't I?" Mikan reassured Ayu and used her alice again, this time using a Healing Alice. "See? It's gone." The brunette smiled sweetly. "Besides, you've gotten way better at using your alice, too. Let's call it a day, shall we?"

They headed towards their dorms.

--

It was already the following day, around a quarter to eleven.

Mikan was waiting at the academy's front gates. ""Where the hell is that person..." She tapped her foot impatiently.

She was wearing faded dark blue jeans and a black sweater on. She was also wearing black and white Converse as her shoes. **(A/N: I love Converse!)**

A black car drove in stopped right in front of her, and she got in. Mikan already fell asleep, even though their destination point was only about an hour away. She woke up, hitting her head against the window, the car coming to a stop.

"Hn. Thanks." She said to the guy and got out.

Mikan casually walked up to the doors that held the two Alice Academy students captive. She kicked the door and barged in the place, attracting attention to everyone who was there.

"Where are the students that you kidnapped, you morons?" She snickered.

"After her!" One of them shouted.

It didn't take a lot, but Mikan was soon captured. "I guess I'm captured now." She said, feigning disappointedness.

"That's right girlie. What is becoming of that academy nowadays? Sending weak people. Tch." The man grunted and tossed the tied up Mikan with where Youichi and Kanae were and slammed the iron door shut.

"Stupid ass." Mikan said proudly.

"Eh?" She stared at the two kids in front of her. "Hi! My name's Mikan and I'm here to save you." She said with a small smile.

"Baka." Youichi, the boy with grey eyes and hair said emotionlessly. "How do you expect to save us when you're tied up yourself?" He was actually thinking something else thought. _Mikan...? Old hag? Can't possibly be... But then this person's stupidity matches hers..._

"Don't mind him." Kanae, the girl next to him said shyly.

"Oh. It's alright. I'm used to this bratty kid's attitude," she said calmly and used the Fire Alice she copied from Natsume to break the rope that tied her hands. "What do you think, Yo-chan?" She smirked.

"Old hag. Don't call me that. I don't even know you," he replied coldly.

"Fine." Mikan said and snapped her fingers, burning the rope that tied Kanae's and Youichi's hands as well. "I'm not stupid, you know. I let myself be captured. I wasn't gonna look for you in this place and waste so much time," she told Youichi. "And I'll call you Hijiri-san if that's what you want. Let's go."

The metal door went flying off, revealing Mikan with the two kinds behind her.

What surprised Mikan, Youichi, and Kanae though, was what they saw. Natsume was trying his best to fight the henchmen that surrounded him.

Mikan got mad at this. _What the hell?! I thought I told them not to get involved and they send Hyuuga? Do they think I'm weak or something? _She thought and rushed to help Natsume.

"What are you doing here," she demanded icily, using Ayu's alice to send crystals to pin a couple of guys to the wall. Her back was pressed against Natsume's. They were surrounded. "Academy sent me. Saw you captured." He replied.

Natsume unleashed a big whip of fire, burning those that dared come near him. Mikan used Akira's Alice, and did the same as Natsume. _Mikan's a multi-alice user? How many Alices does she have exactly? _He thought, seeing that she had her Nullification Alice, the Crystal Alice like Ayu, and the Blue Fire Alice like Akira. What other alice could she possibly have?

As if answering Natsume's unsaid question, Mikan used Natsume's Fire Alice as well.

_No way... _Natsume thought, but kept a composed look on the outside.

One person left; that one guy that was left went fleeing for his life. Mikan easily froze him in place though.

"A.. job.. well.. done." She said in between pants. She wasn't really used to using her second Alice a lot.

Youichi ran to Natsume and hugged him. "Onii-san, what took you so long?" Youichi asked.

"Eh. Sorry..."Natsume muttered.

"You okay, Kanae?" Mikan asked the little girl.

She nodded.

Youichi then let go of Natsume and stared at Mikan.

"What?" She said, but Youichi ignored her.

He then stared back at Natsume, and vice versa.

"Onee-chan?" Youichi said and hugged her too.

"Onee-chan?!" she said.

Youichi shook his head. "Never mind..." He said in a cute voice. "You're my mommy from now on, and onii-san is my daddy!" Youichi said happily.

"M-mommy?!" Mikan said in disbelief, while Natsume said "D-daddy?"

_Not a bad idea, Yo-chan. _Natsume smirked. _Not a bad idea at all..._

* * *

**Author's Note 2 (February 2009) : Long chapter.**

**A/N: How was this chapter?? Do you think I should let Mikan and Natsume be our little Yo-chan's parents? Hm.. I say a future family is starting here! Hehe... LOL, jk. Anyways, review please! "Constructive Criticism"(Flames) allowed. Sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes if there are any. Feel free to PM me if you don't understand something. Ja!**

**-xX twinklystar**


	12. Youichi's Parents

**Author's Note: Last chapter was the longest that I wrote, even though it's not that good. I don't know if I should make it NatsumexMikan or MikanxAkira yet... Maybe I should just let our little Yo-chan decide... Enjoy!  
**

**Disclaimer: GA rocks and that's because I made it! ...NOT.

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**

_Youichi shook his head. "Never mind..." He said in a cute voice. "You're my mommy from now on, and onii-san is my daddy!" Youichi said happily._

_"M-mommy?!" Mikan said in disbelief, while Natsume said "D-daddy?"_

_Not a bad idea, Yo-chan. Natsume smirked. __Not a bad idea at all...

* * *

_

**-**

**Chapter 12: Youichi's Parents**

**-  
**

The following morning,Mikan walked into the classroom as if annoyed at something.

"Are you okay, Mikan-chan?" Yuu asked bravely, knowing how scary Mikan could be. Her face just got an even more annoyed look on it. "N-n-nevermind." He quickly said and got out of her way.

This time, Ayu, followed by Akira, asked Mikan, "Are you alright? How'd the mission go?"

Mikan's face scrunched up in rage. "_No_, I'm _no_ alright. And my mission? It went pretty well except for..." She jerked her head towards her right. They looked at what she was "pointing" to.

"Hyuuga?!" Ayu and Akira said in startled voices.

_What's his problem?'_Akira thought, getting jealous because Natsume was with her. _Why is he with her all of a sudden now? And why isn't Mikan doing anything?? I thought she hated Hyuuga!' _He sent a death glare to Natsume. "Bastard" was Akira's message through his death glare.

Seeing that, Natsume smirked. _Told you she was mine,_ he thought, sending a death glare back to Akira.

While the two were having a silent war, Ayu was gaping at the sight before her, her mouth hanging wide open.

_Oh, God... _Mikan thought, putting her hand on her forehead as she shook her head.

"Oi, lady, close your mouth," a child's voice said.

Ayu did as she was told. "Who said that...?" Her eyes darted around the room, searching for the source of the voice. Her hazel brown eyes finally found the source: a little boy. She was looking down, to the right side of Mikan. She blinked twice.

"Kawaii!!" Ayu burst out and pinched Youichi's cheeks.

"Don't touch me, ugly," Youichi said to her with his non-changing, stoic face.

A nerve popped out on her head. "Haha." She laughed sarcastically, "What a cute little boy. you know, you shouldn't make jokes like that."

"Who said I was joking?" Youichi replied in a bored tone.

Ayu stomped her foot. "Mikan, I'll be waiting for you. Talk to you later." She said and marched back to her seat.

"Sorry, Ayu." Mikan apologized to her. She then turned to Youichi, "You know, you shouldn't be so mean, Yo-chan..."

"I'm sorry mommy," he said cutely.

"M-mommy?" Akira said, heating up the temperature unconsciously. He demanded to know why he called Mikan "his mommy."

"I-is this your child, Sakura?" He asked.

"Well, no, not really." Mikan replied.

"Then?"

"He wants me to be his mommy... And I can't say no to him..."

"And why not?"

"Because she's **_MY_** mommy." Youichi answered for her.

"Let's go, Mikan," he said, grabbing her wrist.

"She's my mommy and Natsume onii-san is my daddy, so she's coming with _us_!" Youichi insisted.

Akira turned to Youichi.

"What did you say?" He said coldly, with murderous eyes.

"I said she's my mommy and--"

"Listen, little boy..." Akira bent down to Youichi's level and grabbed his wrist. He put a firm, tight grip on it. "She's _**not**_ your mommy so shut up and leave her alone. She doesn't need any nuisances like _you_ in her life." He lit a small flame on his finger and let it touch Youichi.

"Owie.." The little demon-summoner started to form tears in his eyes.

Natsume was about to push Akira away and beat the crap out of him when...

"Akira!" Mikan shouted as she slapped Akira's hands violently. "Don't do that to Youichi! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She asked rhetorically, infuriated with what he did.

"Hmph." He looked away.

Mikan hugged Youichi. "Are you okay?" she asked, full of concern. She then used the Healing Alice on Youichi.

"Better?" she smiled.

He nodded.

"Whatever." Akira grunted and walked out of the classroom.

"Mommy, thank you!" Youichi hugged her tightly.

She smiled at him. "A-ano, Yo-chan, shouldn't you be on your way to class now?"

He shook his head. "They said I could miss school for this week since I must be tired and all from being kidnapped and stuff... So yeah."

"Oh, well then I'll talk to you later, I gotta go to my seat now." Mikan said.

Youichi grabbed onto her blue uniform skirt. "Aren't you going to sit with me and daddy?"

"I can't, Yo-chan, I don't sit there."

"But-but." He was using his puppy dog eyes.

"You can sit on my lap." Natsume butt in. "I don't mind." He smirked. _I don't mind at all..._

"Yay! Let's go, mommy." The little boy said, jumping up and down with excitement.

"Ayuuu..." Mikan wailed as she was being dragged away from her friend, while Ayu gave her an "it's okay" look.

Natsume was already sitting down, with Youichi in between him and Ruka.

_Youichi... You're so smart for your age.. _Ruka thought. _So they're your parents, huh? Well... hope you serve as a bond to make them closer.. _He was too busy thinking of something, or rather, someone else to think about Natsume and Mikan at the time.

"I _refuse_ to sit down," the brunette protested, not wanting the least bit to do anything with Natsume. "I'm not talking to this, this thing right here," she said in disgust, referring to Natsume.

"Stop complaining, little girl." Natsume yanked her and before she knew it, she was already sitting on his lap.

"H-hey!" She said. "And I am _not _a little girl..." Mikan looked away from him. She didn't bother to get up because she already knew that she would just be wasting her time and energy.

"You're right, you're not a little girl." Natsume snickered. "A little girl doesn't have _those_." His eyes were focused on a particular spot on her body.

"What do you mean Hyuuga?" she snapped. But he didn't reply.

She was annoyed at this. She didn't like being ignored, even though she ignored mostly everyone. She turned to Natsume. "I asked you a question," she said, irritated. What she found though, made her turn red. He was staring at her chest.

"Yup, definitely not a little girl anymore." He stated plainly.

She turned red of anger, embarrassment, and... Was she blushing? "Y-you, you PERVERT!!"

She was about to slap his face but he just caught her hand with ease. "I don't think so," he said. "You're not doing that again."

"Fxcker," she mumbled and turned away.

"Mou, daddy and mommy shouldn't fight..." Youichi said, crawling onto Mikan's lap. "Right mommy?"

She nodded. "Well, Yo-chan, there are times that mommies wanna beat the crap out of guys, like your daddy over there, because they're so stupid."

"Ignore your mommy Yo-chan." Natsume said flatly. "My wife is just upset and she doesn't know what she's talking about right now, okay?"

"Okay, daddy." Youichi smiled and happily went back to his seat in between Natsume and Ruka.

"W-Wife??" Mikan was infuriated. "Don't go around calling me your wife Hyuuga! I would **never** get married to _you_."

"Sureeee." Natsume said, raising his manga to his face. "Whatever you say..."

They either ignored each other or argued during the rest of the day.

--

**Mikan's POV**

The sky was of a purple-ish indigo color. The sun was setting.

I ran to that Sakura tree that Hyuuga always sleeps at. I was trying to get away from that evil Hyuuga and his mini-self, in other words, Youichi. I don't know what the hell is going on in their crazy, psychotic minds--and I don't want to find out. Surely Hyuuga won't look for me there since him and Youichi are too busy trying to look for me somewhere else. I bet this would be the last place they would look for me...

I snickered.

I jumped up on a branch, getting higher bit by bit. But I don't want to go that high. I guess I'll just stay here. I sat down comfortably on the branch and took out my mp3 player.

Ah, I wonder how I'd live without my trusty mp3 player. It's like one of my best friends. I searched for the song "All Around Me", by my favoritEST, (yeah favoritest is a word in my vocabulary, so shut up) band in the world, Flyleaf.

_My hands are searching for you  
My arms are outstretched towards you  
I feel you on my fingertips  
My tongue dances behind my lips for you_

Natsume... I mean... Hyuuga... he used to make me feel like I had butterflies in my stomach, and that nothing bad will ever happen as long as he was around.. To protect me, to love me, to cherish me...

You're wondering why I like this band so much, huh? Well, not that much people may know it, but I love Flyleaf. Usually only goths and stuff would listen to them, but hey, it's good music so why can't I listen to it too? I closed my eyes.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love this band. And I love this song too.

_I can feel you all around me  
Thickening the air I'm breathing  
Holding on to what I'm feeling  
Savoring this heart that's healing_

Want to know why? Because this song relates to me so much. Especially when I first heard it; it was like it was made especially for me... Natsume used to cloud my thoughts everyday, and I'd cry... I'd feel the hurt and pain he'd let me feel... Those thoughts felt like they were choking the life out of me... Slowly helping me and my broken heart escape from this world...

_I'm alive, I'm alive_

I existed, Natsume, I existed... But you didn't seem to notice, you didn't seem to care...

_Take my hand  
I give it to you  
Now you own me  
All I am  
You said you would never leave me  
I believe you  
I believe_

Now, I don't believe you, Hyuuga... You lied to me... You said that you'd never leave me... But you did...

I felt a small warm, damp something stroll down my cheek. I already know what it is. A tear. I felt another one... And another... They just keep on seeming to come out of nowhere... Maybe... From all.. This... Sadness...

Stupid Natsume... Stupid Hotaru... I hope you go to hell... I hope you all burn in hell...

Hey! I felt some stupid ass pull my earphones off. I'll kill this person for disturbing me...

**End of Mikan's POV**

The crying brunette opened her eyes to see who had disturbed her in her time of peace.

"What the hell is your-" She looked up and saw Natsume. "Oh... It's just you..." She said sadly, yanking her earphones back from his hand.

She jumped off the tree branch.

The raven-color haired boy did as well. "Where are you going?" He asked rhetorically, scratch that, he demanded to know.

She ignored him and kept walking away. Natsume was about to grab her arm so that she couldn't get away, but Mikan just dodged his hand and continued walking.

"How predictable," she said, unimpressed. "Doing the same things over and over again." She stopped in her tracks. "After you make a fool of yourself a few hundred times, you learn what works..." She said, and continued to walk away. "Remember that, Hyuuga." The sound of her voice grew faint.

_What the hell is that supposed to mean? _Natsume thought. _Is she mocking me or something? But then... why was she crying, and on **my** Sakura tree too?_

Mikan was trying to find her way to Akira's room. She hadn't seen him all day long, after the incident with Youichi.

_You should remember what I told you, Hyuuga... _Mikan thought. _I__t took me a hundred times to learn what works. Which, in my world, is to forget you..._

"Here it is." Mikan said to no one in particular. She was standing in front of the boys' dormitory. Just because it was the guys' dorm, it didn't mean that girls couldn't go there. Separate dormitories were only to separate the girls' and boys' sleeping places. Just in case of... "stuff."

"Room 235, room 235," she kept repeating to herself, just in case she forgot what room Akira was in. As she was about to take a step, someone forcefully gripped onto her shoulder and pulled her behind the trees and bushes.

She was slammed against a tree. "What the fxck do you want?" Mikan yelled angrily. Her eyes were dark and seemed as it they had malicious intent.

Someone spat on her face.

"Listen up, you bitch," a female voice said, "Stay away from Natsume, Akira, and even Tsubasa!"

"Yeah," another one said. This girl had blue-green eyes and brown-ish blond hair. "It wouldn't be surprising if you went after Ruka next, slutty whore."

"Right, Sumire?" the first girl said. She had pink hair and purple eyes.

No reply was heard from Sumire.

"Damn, Sumire! You're the fxcking president of the fan club and you can't say anything to this bitch?" The pink-haired girl shouted.

"I'm sorry, Mikan..." The green, seaweed-like haired girl, Shouda Sumire said.

Mikan just nodded.

"Ugh!" Another girl with gray hair and light blue eyes smacked Sumire and pummeled her to the ground.

"Tch." Mikan grunted with much contempt and disdain. "Now, be sure to have your prayers ready, ladies. Hell isn't gonna be a nice ride..."

"Shut the fxck up," said the pink-haired girl, who seemed to be the leader of this little group. She was about to kick Mikan, but Mikan easily caught her ankle.

She then twisted the girl's ankle which made the pink-haired girl groan in pain.

"This is just the beginning..." Mikan grinned evilly and started to advanace on the other girls.

She used Tsubasa's Shadow Alice, making the girls unable to escape.

"I'm right here... Isn't this what you wanted?"

The girls had terror-stricken faces. Death was standing right in front of them.

"Anything else you wanna call me? A bitch? A whore? What else?" She grabbed the pink-haired girl by her hair and pulled her face upwards so that they would be face to face. "I dare you to spit in my face again."

"I-I-I," was the only thing the girl managed to say.

Mikan let go of her hair.

A sharp shard made of a crystal appeared in her hand.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Mikan said in an icy tone. "You think that even if I didn't exist that Natsume or any of them would pay the least attention to the likes of you?!"

Still, the girl opened her mouth but no sound came out.

"Oh please," Mikan continued. "Like they would even wanna be near you filthy dirt bags. Calling me a slut. You should look at yourself first... You're the whores and sluts here!" She shouted to the three girls with aggression. "How pathetic. No guy would want to be with someone who's obsessed to someone they can _never_ attain. And for that... I'll end your miserable little lives for you..."

* * *

**Author's Note 1: Do me a favor please! Listen to that song that Mikan was listening to, "All Around Me" by Flyleaf. Thank you... And.. Yay! I liked this chappie. Review please! Constructive criticism (flames) are welcome. Comments, suggestions, questions, feel free to ask me. And I'm open to any ideas right now so... yeah. :) Hope you guyzs liked this chapter! Sorry for any grammatical and/or spelling errors. I'm juzs too lazy to read it over and edit it. Ja!**

**-Aimee**

**My deepest gratitude to the following that reviewed my previous chapter (especially SpringFairy14, JC-zala, and Casalindra).  
**


	13. Confessions

**Disclaimer: I wanna own Gakuen Alice, (I think)! But I don't... So yeah...

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**

_"Not so tough now, are you?" Mikan said in an icy tone. "You think that even if I didn't exist that Natsume or any of them would pay the least attention to the likes of you?!"_

_Still, the girl opened her mouth but no sound came out._

_"Oh please," Mikan continued. "Like they would even wanna be near you filthy dirtbags. Calling me a slut. You should look at yourself first... You're the whores and sluts here!" she shouted to the three girls with aggression. "How pathetic. No guy would want to be with someone who's obsessed to someone they can **never** attain. And for that... I'll end your miserable little lives for you..."_

* * *

-

**Chapter 13: Confessions**

**-  
**

"Mikan! Stop!" Akira tackled her softly to the ground.

"A-Akira?" she stammered, realizing what she's just done. "Hmph." She still held the stupid fan girls in place; she wasn't going to let them go so easily.

"Are you okay?" he asked, full of concern. Naturally, Akira was way more concerned about Mikan than those girls that looked like they were the ones that needed to be pitied. He hugged Mikan.

She looked down. _It feels so warm in his arms... _She closed her eyes.

"It's their own fault," she said quietly, calmer now. "They're so stupid... They talk shit about me and try to sound tough and all that when they're so pathetic that they couldn't even do anything when I started to defend myself and retaliate... And I only just started, too."

"I know, it's alright Mikan... I'm here now..." He ran his fingers through her hair ever-so-gently, and she starting sobbing.

He looked at the three girls in disgust. "You three. You dare try to hurt her again or tell anyone about this incident and you're dead." He said seriously. "Know your places girls, and if you need me to remind you, your place is way below the dirt that you stand on."

Mikan released the girls and they fled in a hurry.

"Why are you still here, girlie?" He said to a girl that was still on the ground. "Answer me!"

She was shaking. She was terrified.

_Girl...? What girl... I thought there were only three of those fxcking bitches... _Mikan thought. She then remembered, "Sumire!" She half-shouted and quickly rushed to her. "Are you okay?"

Sumire nodded and began to break into sobs. "I-I... I'm sorry Mikan-chan!" She hugged Mikan tightly.

"Don't worry.. I know you're not like them..." She put her hand on Sumire's back and moved her hand up and down to soothe Sumire, like a child. "Don't get into any trouble now." Mikan smiled and let go of Sumire.

"...Permy." Mikan added and chuckled softly.

This made Sumire laugh a little. "Thank you," she said and wiped her tears. "I don't want to trouble you anymore... I'll see you soon..."

She hugged Mikan briefly and slightly bowed to Akira. "Bye Mikan.. Akira-san.." And with that, she was gone.

Something on Mikan's uniform caught his eye. "Mikan-chan, stay still." He touched it. It was damp and... Red? "Mikan, you're bleeding," he said and picked her up, bridal style.

"Huh? O-Oh... It's nothing..." She said so that he wouldn't worry. _It must have been when that fxcking girl slammed me against the tree... _She tried to use her Alice to heal it but it was no use: she was too tired. Besides, she's not used to using her copying/stealing Alice and she overused it last night on her mission.

"Don't be ridiculous," he said, still not putting her down. He began to walk towards the dorm.

"W-where are we going?" she asked.

"My room." He replied.

"W-Wh-What? W-Why??" she asked, thinking it was really wrong. He stopped walking.

"Mikan-chan, what's going on in that perverted mind of yours?" He asked, feigning surprise. He chuckled a little.

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with me." She pouted and crossed her arms against her chest. "And I'm not _perverted_."

He smiled. "It's so cute when you do that," he said inaudibly.

"Did you say something?" The brunette asked innocently.

He shook his head.

"Oh... Must be the wind then..."

Within a few minutes, they reached Akira's room.

He took out his key and turned the door knob.

"Eto..." Mikan said in a low voice.

He switched the lights on and gently put her on his bed.

"Here." he said, throwing a pair of pajamas at her.

Her mouth hung open. "I'm supposed to wear this?"

"No, you're supposed to eat it," he replied with sarcasm.

"D-demo!"

He groaned in disapproval and walked towards her. "You need to go take a shower and clean that wound before it gets infected, okay? You don't want that girl's germs from her saliva to stay on you, do you?"

"How do you now about that, Akira-kun?" Puzzlement was obviously in her voice.

He looked down. "I saw you... I saw them start attacking you all of a sudden..."

Silence.

"Forgive me... I couldn't be there sooner..." He said and hugged her once again.

"It's okay. I promise," she reassured him.

Silence again.

"Now, if you don't change then I'll have to change your clothes for you by force," he smirked and held onto the first button on her shirt.

She shoved him away and blushed. "Don't be ridiculous." She said. "Now turn around and no peeking!"

He laughed one of his once in a blue moon laughs."You should have seen your face Mikan-chan!" He laughed harder. "I can't believe you thought I was serious!!"

Mikan turned even more red of embarrassment and anger.

_**BONK.**_

She hit his head.

"Stupid." Mikan marched into the bathroom.

After a few seconds, her head popped out of the bathroom door. "Uhm... Akira-kun..." She had trouble saying what she wanted to say.

He raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Eto..." She started again. _How am I supposed to tell him that I need a different underwear and a bra to wear? _

"N-nevermind." She slammed the bathroom door. _Oh boy... Guess I have no choice..._

Within a few minutes, Mikan came out of the bathroom with clothes that were a bit too big for her. You could see part of her cleavage because of how low the first button of the shirt was. The pants were covering her feet and she had to pull the pants up so that she won't trip on it when she walked.

"Your pj's are too big for me, Akira-kun," she said and laughed softly. "They're really comfy though." She stroked the cotton fabric over and over. "And don't touch my clothes, 'kay? I swear to God that if you do, you're dead." She warned him with eyes like daggers. _I don't want him to touch my lingerie... That's just.. Bleh. Nasty... _She shrugged at the thought.

"Whatever."

"So anyways, how are you feeling?" She asked. "Are you okay now? I've been worried about you the whole day..."

"I'm fine." He was lying down on his queen-sized bed with midnight blue sheets and pillow cases. His hands were behind his head.

"That's good then." She sat next to the lying down figure. "I was worried about you..." She pulled him up so that he would end up sitting: she hugged him tightly. "You're one of the only people I have left..."

"It's okay Mikan," he reassured her and hugged her back. "Me and Ayu will always be here for you.."

"Promise?" she looked up at him with sadness in her eyes.

He nodded. "Of course."

"Thank you..." She said in a faint voice.

She got up from his bed. "Ne, we should go to sleep now, huh?" She asked, back to her cheerful, childish self. "Pass me that pillow there, please! And uhm... Where are the blankets here?" She began to rummage his closet.

Akira chuckled at the brunette's actions and shook his head.

"Mikan," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. He picked her up and carried her towards his bed. "You're sleeping here."

"W-With you?" She asked nervously.

"Baka. Of course not." He kissed her forehead. "I'm sleeping on the couch."

"But," she protested, ready to argue with him.

"No 'buts_,' Mikan-chan_."

"Fine."

He took one of the soft pillows from his bed and a blanket from his closet and threw them onto the couch. He turned off the lights and went to sleep on the couch.

"Akira-kun?" Same Mikan's voice.

"Hm?"

"Thank you..."

"Hn."

"Akira-kun?" She said again.

"Hm?"

"Good night."

"'Night."

--

It was almsot midnight; a stream of moonlight shimmered on the sleeping girl's face. A pair of blue eyes had been watching her the whole time.

_She looks so peaceful, _he thought, still gazing at her face.

"Nnnmm..." She muttered and tossed around in the bed.

_Dreaming? _He chuckled to himself. He got up from the couch and approached Mikan.

His face turned back to his usual, stoic face when he saw Mikan's face. It seemed like she was having a nightmare.

A tear strolled down her face. "Natsume..." She mumbled.

Akira was taken aback.

_Does she... _He thought sadly, _Does she love him...?_

A tear strolled down his face as well. "I guess I can't ever beat Hyuuga, huh? I guess he already has that special spot taken in your heart..."

"But... Just once..." He bent down and his face came close to Mikan's. "Just once..." He kissed her lips gently and savored the moment that he would only go through once in his life. One that he would cherish forever.

--

Akira got up lazily from the couch. He slowly dragged his feet to the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast. _Wait... Mikan! _He suddenly remembered. He ran to the bed, not finding the brunette there. _Where's Mikan?_

On the bed was a piece of paper folded neatly.

_Akira,__  
_

_Sorry for leaving without telling you!  
I just didn't wanna disturb you from your sleep.  
You looked so cute!  
Haha. Anyways, I feel much better now,  
thanks to you of course. :)  
I can use my alice perfectly fine now, and  
I left early because I didn't want to trouble you any more than  
I already have.  
See ya!_

_-Mikan _

_P.S. I made breakfast for you! It's on the table._

It was Saturday.

Mikan was in her room. She just finished taking a shower. How'd she get back to her room? She used her Alice of course. The Teleportation Alice.

She put on a tight black top on with "Kill Me, Kiss Me" embroidered in silver and dark blue faded jeans. She also wore black and white converse as her shoes. **(A/N: I love CONVERSE!)**

She looked at herself in the mirror. _Pefect_.

"Well, it's Saturday and at least I don't have to deal with Natsume and his mini-self today." She snickered. She opened the door, coming out of her room. What she saw when she turned around, did surprise her.

"You-chan! Nats-- Hyuuga! What are you two doing here on a Saturday?" She sweat dropped.

Our little Youichi here was tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for an answer of where she went to yesterday.

Natsume was just leaning on the wall with his hands tucked in his pockets.

"Well?" Youichi said, still tapping his foot. "Where were you yesterday, huh, mommy? Don't you know how long me and daddy have been looking for you?" He stopped tapping his foot and pouted. "D-Don't..you.." He started to cry--of course, it was the typical crocodile tears. But Mikan didn't know that.

"You-chan! Aaaw, please don't cry..." She picked him up and hugged him. "Can I just make up for it?"

Upon hearing that, an evil grin formed on his face.

_Scheming time..._ The little grey-haired boy thought. "Since it's Saturday, why don't me, you, and daddy go spend some time together at Central Town?" He said ever so cutely.

_Oh boy..._ Mikan thought. _This is gonna be one hell of a Saturday.'_

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**Author's Note 1: Here's chapter 13! I'm really really really sorry for teh long wait. Hope you liked it! I also apologize for any grammatical and/or spelling errors. Questions, comments, ideas, etc., feel free to tell me. :D Btw, please read my other story! "Why We're Not Meant To Be Together". Thankzs!**** Anyways, Don't forget to review! Reviews make me happy. lol. Ja!**

**-Aimee**

**Thank you so so so so so so much to the following for reviewing my previous chapter.**


	14. Central Town

**Author's Note: Okay, I know I haven't updated for a while and I left you guyzs hanging, so I do apologize. If you don't accept my apology, well then too bad. Sue me. Besides, it's not entirely my fault that I didn't update; it was the site's fault. I was trying to log in for so long and I got pissed off because it wouldn't let me log in. Anyway, I hope you guys like this one! And I promise that I'll definitely update one for Christmas. :D Here's chapter 14...**

* * *

_"You-chan! Aaaw, please don't cry..." She picked him up and hugged him. "Can I just make up for it?"_

_Upon hearing that, an evil grin formed on his face._

_Scheming time... The little grey haired boy thought. "Since it's Saturday, why don't me, you, and daddy go spend some time together at Central Town?" He said ever so cutely._

_Oh boy... Mikan thought. This is gonna be one hell of a Saturday.'

* * *

_

-

**Chapter 14: Central Town**

**-  
**

"I _refuse_-"she emphasized on the word refuse, and was cut off by a kiss. Her eyes somewhat widened.

Youichi on the other hand, covered his eyes with his hands and peeped through in between his fingers. He looked so adorable, making it obvious that he was peeking.

And you all know who the only person who has the guts to kiss Mikan out of nowhere for absolutely no reason. Natsume.

He released her from the kiss. "What was that for?" She asked, trying to sound angry. Which, by the way, was working. She glared at Natsume as if trying to burn holes into his body just by glaring at him, waiting for an answer. She wasn't really in the mood to get into a physical fight with him.

He pointed at her shirt. "Your shirt, idiot."

She actually looked at her shirt, not having a clue of what Natsume was talking about. _OH,_ she thought, mentally slapping herself. "Kill Me, Kiss Me" was embroidered in silver on her shirt, right across her chest.

"Well you didn't have to take it literally!" She hollered at a Natsume who was now walking away, knowing that Youichi and Mikan would soon have to follow. "And that was the second kiss you stole!!" She yelled, grabbing Youichi's hand gently and heading towards Natsume.

He smirked upon hearing this. _Actually, that was the third. _

The first was when they were ten, during the Christmas party with the masquerade ball. Second was the Halloween Dance. Third was just now.

She was mumbling nonsense when she caught up to Natsume. "Yeah right... So does that mean that anyone that sees this shirt is supposed to take it literally and either kiss me or kill me?" She mumbled to herself.

Natsume then frowned at that. _No one better try to do that... Or else..._

Youichi, still holding on to Mikan's hand, felt this negative energy from his so-called "parents." He yanked his hand from Mikan's. He then went in between Natsume and Mikan and held on to Mikan's hand with his right hand and held Natsume's hand with his left. "Now we're just like one happy family." He smiled.

Mikan smiled as well. _Yo-chan..._

The Kuroi Neko who was staring at Mikan was kind of surprised to see her smile. He barely saw her smile nowadays, and when she did, it was always with her "friends." _I wish... you would smile... For me... _

He missed those days that she would smile for no reason at all, especially if it was to cheer him up. He hated it when she was sad. Now, he can't even stay in a room with her for five minutes without getting into an argument or something. He would prefer the cheerful Mikan than the cold Mikan any day. _Mikan..._

--

"Aaaah!!" A guy was panicking all around and ran away to find some water to put out the fire that was burning his hair.

Mikan sighed and Youichi smiled up at her. Natsume still had that frown on his face. That was the ninth guy that he set on fire for the entire two hours that they've been at Central Town.

_Auntie Hotaru used to help me with these scheming things... But I guess I have to do it by myself now... _The little demon caster thought.

They sat down on a nearby bench. "The temperature's starting to drop, ne, Yo-chan?" The brunette said calmly and looked at him.

He nodded and crawled onto her lap.

She tilted her head, wondering what he was going to do. Just as Mikan opened her mouth, Youichi popped a piece of Howalon into her mouth. She was about to say something regarding Youichi's actions as well, but he put his tiny hands on her face and closed her mouth.

"I know how much you love Howalons, mommy," the little boy said and smiled ever-so-cutely.

She looked at him awkwardly. She had that awkward smile plastered on her face, but she was happy. _Yo-chan... I wonder if that's really you... _Not long after, she had her usual stoic face on. But something was different. Her eyes danced of some happiness.

"Thanks." Mikan told Youichi and made him sit on her lap properly. She took the box of Howalons from him.

"B-but..." Youichi was about to cry. He liked Howalons just as much as Mikan.

She let a small smile escape her lips. "Aaah." She meant for him to open his mouth so that she could feed him.

Surprisingly, Youichi actually did as he was told. She fed him one Howalon after another, watching him munch on the sweets with his rosy cute cheeks moving.

Let's not forget about _the_famous Black Cat though. The grumpy, hot, raven-haired teenager was standing right next to the bench that the two "mother and son" were sitting on. He was watching them from the corner of his ruby eyes.

An aura of a bit negativity was emitted from the Kuroi Neko. _Why does Youichi get to be fed by her... 'Cause he's cute?! I'm cute too... I'm not just cute, I'm hot like hell. Girls practically kiss the ground that I walk on. _His piercing red eyes were still on the two. _She's even smiling! She barely smiles... How come she smiles for Youichi and not me?! _He was jealous. Of Youichi. Little Youichi. I guess Natsume just "loves" Mikan too much. He gets jealous of even Youichi, who, by the way, is _seven_ years younger than Mikan and _eight_ years younger than him. **(A/N: Okay, maybe Natsume isn't 8 years older than Youichi but I want him to be that old here, so deal with it.) **

Just as Mikan was about to pop another Howalon into Youichi's mouth, Natsume went in front of him and caught the Howalon in his mouth instead. _Ha. Beat that, Yo-chan, _the fire caster thought and smiled inwardly.

The smile on Mikan's face turned to a frown. She obviously wasn't very happy.

"What the hell did you do that for?" She yelled at Natsume.

He just shrugged, which made her more annoyed at him.

_Eh. I should leave them alone... Who knows, when I come back, they might be having a make-out session. Besides, I need some time to think out my schemes...'_Youichi thought, getting off Mikan's lap and starting to walk away from the two who were arguing. They actually kind of seem like a couple having a lover's quarrel.

Even though they were arguing, Natsume was actually happy. He was happy that her attention was on him and not on someone else. Besides, he thought that she looked cute even when she was mad.

"You're such an idiot!" Mikan growled.

"Sure I am," he replied monotonously.

"Natsume no baka!"

"Look whose talking."

Their argument went on and on. They were so engrossed in their heated argument that they didn't notice Youichi's presence gone.

"Hmph." Mikan grunted.

Her back was turned to Natsume and his back was turned to her. They were sitting at the opposite ends of the bench. Today was supposed to be a "Natsume-free" day for Mikan. Meaning NO Natsume. She only came to Central Town for Youichi. ...Right?

She knew it wasn't true but denied it. She knew that for some strange reason she was being attracted to Natsume. It wasn't just for Youichi. Maybe it was just her excuse. Maybe... maybe she was still in love with him?

She shrugged. "You know if it wasn't for Youichi..." She opened her mouth and said, but stopped in mid-sentence, just realizing that Youichi wasn't even there anymore.

"Hyuuga! Where's Yo-chan?" She asked, panicking a bit.

"Hn," was the only thing he said. _Ugh. Youichi again._

It wasn't that Natsume was starting to hate the little clone of himself. It's just that the only thing that he's been hearing from Mikan for the whole day was about Youichi. He wanted it to be about him for a change. He wanted her to care about him, not just Youichi. In fact, he wanted her to think of only him.

"Can't you make yourself useful?" He was just standing there, looking careless with his hand tucked in his pockets, as usual. She rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless." She grabbed his hand and began dragging him back to the stores with her to look for Youichi.

_Eh. Could have been worse,_ he thought, letting her drag him. If this was supposed to be torture, then he'd like to have torture for the rest of his living life.

--

The bell rang softly as the door of a store closed. Out came a figure of a young man with sapphire eyes and silver hair.

He came out of the store with a small silver, fancy gift bag with white satin laces. He was wearing a black shirt of the band Avenged Sevenfold and black denim jeans. He also had black and white Vans shoes with little skulls on it.

He heaved a sigh.

The calm look on his face turned into one of rivalry when he saw a certain something, or rather, a certain someone.

"Hyuuga, help me look for Yo-chan, come on..." She said, almost whining.

He didn't budge.

She sighed. "...P-please?" How it pained her to say those words to him. But she was worried about Youichi, so what can she do? She knew that she needed Natsume's help.

He smirked upon hearing those words that signaled her defeat. "Whatever," he said.

"Great. Now..." She stopped again, looking at an annoyed person that seemed to be heading towards her.

Seeing Mikan's reaction, Natsume looked up as well, and he was not happy with what he saw. Akira was approaching them with a stern look on his face.

_I know I said I wouldn't interfere... But I just get so jealous... _Akira thought. He grabbed Mikan's wrist and began drag her towards wherever.

Natsume frowned even more. Naturally, he followed Mikan. Akira walked faster and so did Natsume.

When they were out of the crowded place, Natsume easily got hold of Mikan's other wrist. "Let go of her." Natsume demanded.

"You let go." Akira shot back at him. "She's not yours."

Natsume send glares at him.

_I'm not letting guys get to you that easily..._ Akira was determined. Perhaps he had one more chance with Mikan. _I'm especially not giving you up to him, of all people... After what he made you go through..._

"I said let go." Natsume repeated in a dangerous tone.

Akira didn't move an inch.

The Black Cat had no patience. Today of all days too. He wanted to have Mikan's attention all to himself, at least for today. Today was different. Being the impatient person that he is, he charged at Akira, which Akira of course, dodged easily.

"Mikan..." Akira said softly and put a hand on her cheek. He let out another sigh and let his lips meet hers.

Mikan stood there in shock. Natsume watched in anger. His blood boiling more and more with each second passing by.

* * *

**Author's Note 1: Okay, I know that I said that Akira gave up already, but some people requested that Akira shouldn't be out of thr picture coz he makes a good rival. So there. Questions, comments, suggestions, feel free to tell me. Don't forget to review! I apologize go for grammar and/or spelling mistakes, if any. Ja! And sorry again for taking a long time to update!**

**Thank you SO much to the ff who reviewed the previous chapter.**


	15. November 27th

**Author's Note: Eh, yew know what i juzs noticed? i forgot to put a disclaimer in teh last chapter again. .. well, whatever. I updated this chapter kinda fast so that yew guyzs can read. :) It's for JC-zala & Springy! juzs coz i said so. anywaysz, here'sz chapter 15! read & review!**

**Disclaimer: Twinkly does not own Gakuen Alice... She does worship it though...**

**WARNING: OOCness.  
**

* * *

_"Mikan..." Akira said softly and put a hand on her cheek. He let out another sigh and let his lips meet hers._

_Mikan stood there in shock. Natsume watched in anger. His blood boiling more and more with each second passing by._

* * *

-

**Chapter 15: November 27th**

**-  
**

Natsume gritted his teeth and clenched his fists tightly that they were actually starting to bleed. "Let go of her you bastard!" He plunged at Akira.

"Mikan watch out!" The silver-haired Akira pushed Mikan out of the way, concerned that she might get hurt.

While our little brunette here sat there on the ground, staring blankly into empty space. "A-Akira likes me?" she said quietly and touched her lips. She could still feel the warmth of from his lips. _Am I really that dense to not notice? _Mikan thought. She looked up and saw the two boys fighting, yet she still remained in her position, sitting on the ground. "Are they... Are they fighting over me?" Her brown orbs were focused on the two. She didn't even know why she wasn't doing anything, seeing her best friend, Akira and her former lover(boyfriend), Natsume fight endlessly, trying to beat the crap out of each other. _D-Does Natsume still love me? _She shook her head, denying the possibility that Natsume might still love her after all those years. It felt like her whole world was spinning and she was confused by all this. She clenched the hair on her head, confused. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to do.

Tears silently flowed down her cheeks for some reason that she didn't even know. Alas, she stood up and ran away with all those scrambled thoughts in her head.

"Mikan!" the two shouted in unison. But she didn't stop running and was soon out of their sight.

According to their positions, Natsume was in control at the moment. He was on top of Akira, who was pinned down by the kuro neko.

"Look what you did!" Natsume shouted to Akira's face as he grabbed Akira's shirt collar.

Akira of course, wasn't the least bit pleased with this. "What _I _did?! It's your fault, you fxcking dickhead!" he shouted back.

Natsume grabbed him and slammed him against the ground. "Shut the fxck up. You're the one that went kissing her out of no where!"

A smirk crept onto Akira's partially bleeding mouth. "Jealous, Hyuuga?" His smirk grew wider. "Besides, who are _you_ to tell me what to do? You don't own her." He looked at Natsume with much disdain.

Natsume punched his face. "I dare you to say that again." He looked as if he was ready to kill at any moment now.

"I said you don't own her Hyuuga," Akira repeated mockingly.

"Yes I do!"

"Really? Is that why she can't stay in the same room as you without at least arguing over something?"

"Shut up!" Natsume let his guard down. Akira took his chance and used the opportunity to take control of the situation. Now Akira was in control.

"You act all tough but you can't even do anything about a girl? How pathetic."

This aggravated Natsume even more.

Akira continued, "Who do you think you are? Mikan won't even talk to you decently. I bet she thinks nothing of you but a nuisance in her life."

That was the last straw. "Aaaah!" Natsume hit Akira violently using his fire alice as well.

"Ack..." Akira was sitting on the ground with a burn on his arm.

Natsume's back was turned to him. "Don't talk shit if you can't handle the consequences." He left Akira there and ran off in search of the brunette. _Mikan..._

Natsume rested against a tree and panted. He's been running all around Central Town looking for Mikan for about and hour already, and he still didn't manage to find her.

He heard a sniffle and looked up to find a crying brunette. _Mikan... _He looked at her with much concern and serenity.

He sighed a sigh of relief and began to climb the tree. Mikan sensed this of course, and looked who was approaching her. After a few seconds, a rustling sound was heard from the leaves.

"Who's there?" Mikan asked, trying to wipe her tears away. Much to her surprise, Natsume was the person that came out of the bunch of leaves and hugged her. What surprised her even more is that she let him hug her. She knew that this hug was for real, and that Natsume wasn't just playing around with her.

For some reason, she felt comfort just by being in his arms. They made her feel warm and secure. "Natsume," she whispered to herself, but Natsume heard her clearly. She felt like she wanted to burst into tears again. But she didn't. She just stayed sitting in position on the branch with Natsume next to her, hugging her.

After some time, Natsume broke the embrace. "Are you okay now?"

"Where's Akira?" she asked monotonously.

His eyebrows furrowed a bit and a frown was visible on his face. _Why are you still thinking of him? And when I'm right here too... Do you care that much about him?! _He was going to explode. "Akira Akira Akira, that's what always comes out of your mouth. If it's not him, it's some other guy like Youichi, or that Andou person and who ever! Why can't it be about me for once... Just once... Why can't you think of nothing else but me?" he blurted out.

Realizing what he just said, he covered his eyes with his bangs and jumped of the tree. "Well I hope you feel better," he said coldly and walked away.

A stunned Mikan remained seated on the branch, watching his retreating back facing her, letting everything that she's found out today sink into her thoughts. _Does he still... Does he still really care for me?'_

--

Mikan was walking around Central Town, searching for Youichi. "I can't believe I forgot about You-chan... I hope he's okay," she said to no one in particular.

She felt a tug on her shirt.

_Don't tell me it's another guy that's trying to hit on me, _she groaned at the thought and turned around to see who was tugging on her shirt.

_Natsume... _She stared at him, not knowing what to say.

She felt a tug on her shirt again and looked down.

"Mommy?" Youichi said.

"You-chan!" she half-yelled and hugged him. "I'm so sorry..."

He smiled at her. "It's okay, mommy." He looked up at Natsume and back to Mikan. "Ano, mommy, can we go to uhm... That thing over there?" He pointed. Mikan looked at what he was pointing at, which, by the way, was a large haunted house attraction.

"Uhm," Mikan said.

"Pwease??" Youichi pouted. "You know... It's the least you could do for losing me..." Smart Youichi. Making her guilty to go along with what you want.

Mikan sighed in defeat. "Fine..."

"Yay!" The little boy jumped up and down. Skipping happily, he pulled Natsume and Mikan, getting closer and closer to the so-called "Haunted House."

Mikan and Natsume entered the house, waiting for Youichi to come, who was a few feet away from them. He feigned a look of worry on his face. "I'll be right with you! I forgot something!" he yelled, running away from the house and the two.

Just as Mikan was about to chase after him, the doors closed right in her face. "Dammit..."

She leaned against the door.

"Oi, let's just get out of here... They probably won't even let Youichi back in." Natsume told her and began walking.

_That's right... I forgot all about Natsume for a second, _she thought and followed him.

**Outside the haunted house...**

"Phew.. That was a close one..." Youichi said, wiping off beads of sweat from his forehead. "Step 1 successful... Now to make sure everything goes according to plan..." The little demon caster walked toward a medium-sized building and entered.

"Hey. They're in," he told a blonde guy controlling the operating system for the lights and props inside the haunted house.

The blonde guy smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up, then resumed to the set of small tv monitors that saw everything in the haunted house. "Keep up the good work!" he told another student, who was apparently using his illusion alice like how Yuu did when they had the haunted house during a festival before.

**Back inside the haunted house...**

Mikan kept on looking from left to right and behind and in front of her. Yes, she was paranoid. _You think I would be over my fear of ghosts in the dark already after what I've been through... But sadly, I'm still afraid of them... _She sighed.

"Kyaaa!" The brunette practically jumped when a scary looking little boy holding a teddy bear held on to her shirt.

"Hello lady," he said in an eerie voice.

"Natsume!" She rushed after him and hugged his arm tightly.

He looked at the scared brunette hugging his arm. _Still the same Mikan... _He managed to let a small smile escape his lips.

"Mikan watch out!" He was on top of her laying on the ground; the kid from earlier lunged toward them and suddenly disappeared into thin air. Next thing they knew, they were trapped. Just like the festival before, again.

"Great," Mikan said, leaning against one wall and sitting down on the floor. "I guess we have to get out the hard way." She tried using her Alice but only a small flame emerged from her palm. "What the..?"

Natsume tried as well, with the same result. "Whatever." He leaned against the wall too and sat down.

"This is just great. We can barely use our Alices. But even if we could, we couldn't burn this stupid shit down 'cause it would cause such a ruckus!" Mikan half-yelled. She sighed. "But somehow... This is so... Deja vu..." She closed her eyes.

"Yeah..."

Silence.

_It feels awkward to be alone with Natsum.. Especially after what happened earlier, _Mikan thought, _Maybe I should say something... _Mikan opened her mouth to speak, but Natsume already said something.

"Mikan..."

She looked Natsume who was close to her. _He called me by my first name. It's sounds so nice when he says it..._

"Yeah?" she replied somewhat nervously.

"Do you... I mean... What do you think of me?" he asked with a serious tone.

"Obnoxious, stupid, arrogant... Hm... What else... A liar." She started it out as a joke, but she meant the last one. He hurt her. But now, she didn't know what to think, so she just stuck with what she thought of him since before the incident earlier.

He looked straight with a calm face. "That's alright... Who's to blame you? I deserve it," he paused. "I think that you're sweet, beautiful, and the best thing that has ever happened to me." He smiled, not even bothering to hide it.

"Yeah, right." Mikan rolled her eyes.

He chuckled at her actions. "You can choose to believe me or not. It doesn't matter anyway..." That smile was still plastered on his face. But it was a sad smile; a smile that showed obvious sadness and guilt, deeply wanting forgiveness.

She crept closer to Natsume, little by little. "Natsume?"

"Hm?"

"N-nevermind." She wanted not to believe him, but her heart and mind both didn't cooperate with her; they made Mikan believe Natsume, even if it was just by the smallest bit.

More silence.

"Mikan?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you love me even a little bit in your life?"

She was immediately going to say no, intending to hurt him. She changed her mind seeing the tear that fell down Natsume's cheek.

"I guess not," he said sadly.

Mikan heaved a small sigh. "I _might_ have," she said quietly as she began fiddling with her index fingers. She felt more awkward with him now than before. She didn't even know what to think anymore. Her emotions were all tangled up.

"Mikan?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I... hug you?" He looked desperate for that hug. "Even just for a minute..."

"I..."

Before she got to say her answer, he hugged her tightly in his strong arms. They could feel each other's bodies and warmth. No matter how much Mikan thought it was wrong, (or anyone else), it all just felt so right. Like it was all meant to be...

**Natsume's POV**

Today is the twenty-seventh of November. Today, I finally got a step closer to Mikan's heart. Even if it was a small step, it's an improvement and that's good enough for me.

Today, November twenty-seventh, is my birthday. And it's one of the best birthdays I've ever had just to spend time with Mikan...

* * *

**Author's Note 1: There's chappie 15. Did yew guyzs like it? ;D And yeah, OOCness, forgive meh. Questions, suggestions, etc., feel free to tell me. Don't forget to review:D Reviews are my primary motivation to update. :3 Sorry for any spelling and/or grammatical errors.**

**Ja!**

**-twinkly**

**Thank yew so much to teh ff. that reviewed my previous chapter!  
(I loverzs these people :D)  
**

**-expect a christmas chapter soon :)**


	16. Christmas

**Author's Note: Merry Christmas everyone! Here's chapter sixteen... OOCness but still. Hope yew like it. :)  


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**

_**Natsume's POV**_

_Today is the twenty-seventh of November. Today, I finally got a step closer to Mikan's heart. Even if it was a small step, it's an improvement and that's good enough for me._

_Today, November twenty-seventh, is my birthday. And it's one of the best birthdays I've ever had just to spend time with Mikan..._

* * *

-

**16: Christmas.**

**-  
**

**Mikan's POV**

It's been about a month. A month since November twenty-seven. It was Natsume's birthday. I remembered alright, I just didn't care... I think.

He seemed so sad... And on November twenty-seventh, that's when it started.

When what started, you ask?

That's when my relationship with Natsume changed.

I didn't notice it at first, but I've been getting more and more attached to him. I know it. I feel it. But I can't believe it took me so long to notice.

It's just like before, when I was the one trying to get to know him.

From that day, I've been nicer to him. He's opened up to me more. He's nicer, somehow. His expression might not show it but he's... Softer. Who knew that _the_Kuroi Neko actually had a heart?

But then again... I might be falling into his trap again... Then... I'd end up getting hurt all over again... I can't let that happen...

**End of POV**

The brunette sat on a window sill outside. It was December twenty-fifth, Christmas day. It was beautiful outside; it was snowing and everything was white. It looked so pure and clean.

She was wearing a black trench coat that reach right above her knees, black gloves, and a scarf to keep her warm. She exhaled through her mouth, watching that white visible air come out of her mouth.

She smiled. _It's Christmas..._

She got up from the window sill and began to take a walk. Her head shifted from left to right and vice versa, observing her surroundings. _I wonder... _She thought. She stuck her tongue out, trying to catch a snowflake.

_She looks so cute when she's like that. _A person with ruby eyes watched her from a distance. He chuckled.

The brunette smiled in delight, successfully catching a snowflake in her mouth. "Ha! Beat that you snowflake." She half-yelled triumphantly. I guess she was yelling to the snowflake(s).

She heard footsteps on the crunching snow and turned to see who it was. _Natsume... _she looked at him blankly. Just realizing that he saw her ridiculous, childish action earlier, she turned around to hide her face, flushed from embarrassment. "You never heard that, Hyuuga."

Natsume was wearing a black coat, black gloves and a red scarf. "Baka."

She turned around to argue with him, only to be met with a snowball on her face. She heard Natsume laugh briefly.

She wiped the snow off her face. "Hey!" She shouted with annoyance. _Wait, did he just laugh?_ Her expression changed from aggravated to calm. _He did laugh..._ She looked at him and examined him. She looked at him from head to toe and back. Something caught her eye. _That scarf..._

-

**Flashback**

**-  
**

"Natsume-kun, Merry Christmas!" The brunette flashed a big bright smile at Natsume, who was sitting down by himself on a bench outside. "It's cold you know, you should bundle up more." She handed him a present that was wrapped a little messily. It was a bright red color with small snowmen on it and was tied with a green ribbon.

Natsume looked at her and quirked an eyebrow. "And this is?"

"Your Christmas present, silly." She smiled at him again. "Open it."

He shrugged and took the present anyways. He tugged on the ribbon that held it together and ripped the wrapper slowly. Inside the box was a scarf. A red one. A very bright colored scarf.

"Well? Do you like it?" She asked with stars in her eyes.

He just shrugged again.

"Eh. Wear it you idiot," she coaxed.

He looked inside the box again and said in a monotonous voice, "And why would I want to wear _this_? Besides, the color's so... Bright.. And cheery."

"Natsume! You're so mean!" She ran away, starting to form tears in her eyes. She had worked so hard on that present. But he didn't really care. He didn't like it. _I thought you would like it... And I worked on it for so many weeks... _She was far enough from Natsume, safe inside a classroom. She slipped her gloves off and stared at her hands and laughed softly. _I'm so stupid... _She stared at her hands that had small cuts on them, because of her trying to make that scarf for Natsume. She pricked her hands with the needle so many times. The brunette shook her head. _Doesn't matter now..._

The raven haired boy stared at the footprints that she left on the snow. "Baka." he muttered again. He took the scarf and put it around his neck. _I love it, you idiot... _He took the box, the ribbon, and the wrapper with gentle care and headed toward his dorm. He was going to keep those things. He knows that she's a person who puts others before her.

**-**

**End of Flashback**

**-  
**

She remembered that day perfectly. _It was snowing that day too, just like today. _She let out a small smile unconsciously. Mikan was out of her little trance when she felt another snowball hit her face. "Natsume!" She yelled.

He smirked. _Same little girl... And she said my name right this time. It's Natsume, not Hyuuga. _Natsume began to run around everywhere, trying to hide from a crazed Mikan who was trying to hit him with a thousand snowballs.

"I'll get you Natsume!" He heard her yell. He panted and grinned, hiding behind a sakura tree that had lost its petals since it's winter, of course. He took a peek from the side of the tree, watching out for Mikan. _Where is she now?_

As if reading his mind, Mikan threw several snowballs at him from behind. Truth be told, she knew where he was because she _did_ read his mind with her Alice. She was laughing as she was throwing snowballs at the poor Natsume. A small wall of flame was formed in front of him, melting the snowballs.

"No fair, you cheater!" Mikan whined and crossed her arms.

Natsume smirked yet again and tackled her to the ground. "I got you."

"Oh, no, you don't." Mikan smirked as well.

The two teenagers rolled around in the snow for dominance over the other. Fatigued, they both lay on the snow next to each other, panting and breathing heavily.

Using his energy that he had left, he towered over Mikan's petite body. "Little girl..." He said in between pants.

She tried to push him off but she just didn't have enough energy.

Mikan looked away and blushed, noticing how close Natsume's face was to hers and that his body was touching hers. "Get off me, you idiot." She tried pushing him again and he plopped onto the snow. She giggled.

"See you around, Hyuuga." Mikan let a small smile escape her lips and got up. She headed to her dorm.

"Mikan." He got up as well, and headed toward his dorm with a smile on his face.

--

Mikan locked her door and hung her coat in the closet. She kicked her boots off and tossed her scarf and gloves onto a chair.

The brunette headed to the small kitchen in her room and got herself some hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows in it. She sat on the plush chair in her living room, taking a sip from her hot chocolate. Holding the cup with both hands, she stared at the white swirls in the hot chocolate, then to the presents that people gave her on top of her dresser and smiled. "It's Christmas alright."

Finishing her cocoa, Mikan placed the cup on the small table in from of her and headed to her bed.

A box wrapped in a shiny, red wrapper with imprinted snowflakes and tied with a red satin ribbon lay on her bed. She read the tag. _"Open it, little girl_" was written on it. She already knew who it was from. She unwrapped the gift patiently.

Inside was a teddy bear. She hugged it. The teddy bear was wearing a heart-shaped locket. Mikan opened the locket and her head became filled with confusion. She didn't know what to think or feel; Hurt? Happy? Sad? Angry?

Inside the locket were two pictures. On the right side of the heart was a picture of Mikan. And on the left, was a picture of Natsume.

She put the bear down softly onto her bed and stared out the window. _Natsume...

* * *

_

**Author's Note 2 (Feb 2009): This chapter was short. I'm almost done editing the whole story. Major renovation on the last chapter.**

**Author's Note 1: MERRY CHRiSTMAS! Hope Mikan and Natsume have a merry Christmas too. :) Comments, suggestions, etc., feel free to tell me. Don't forget to review! Flames are highly accepted. Oh and I need to know if you want me to answer your reviewzs on teh next chapter or jusz reply in message. **

**Thank you so so so soooooooo musch to the following that reviewed  
I love yew people! xDDD:**

**Ja!**

**Aimee**


	17. An Apology

**Author's Note: Eh, I forgot to put a disclaimer in teh last chapter again.. Sorry I didn't update recently... Anyways, here's chapter 17. :) Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Twinkly does not own the wonderful Gakuen Alice.**

* * *

_A box wrapped in a shiny, red wrapper with imprinted snowflakes and tied with a red satin ribbon lay on her bed. She read the tag. __"Open it, little girl" was written on it. She already knew who it was from. She unwrapped the gift patiently._

_Inside was a teddy bear. She hugged it. The teddy bear was wearing a heart-shaped locket. Mikan opened the locket and her head became filled with confusion. She didn't know what to think or feel; Hurt? Happy? Sad? Angry?_

_Inside the locket were two pictures. On the right side of the heart was a picture of Mikan. And on the left, was a picture of Natsume._

_She put the bear down softly onto her bed and stared out the window. __Natsume..._

* * *

-

**Chapter 17: An Apology **

**-  
**

Natsume stared at the currently empty seat of Sakura Mikan. Ayu was missing as well. Akira was the only one of the trio that was there.

The gaze of his crimson eyes shifted from Mikan's seat to Akira. He gave Akira a 'where-is-she-tell-me-or-else' look but the silver-haired boy just stuck his tongue out of him, giving him a 'not-telling-you' look. Actually, Akira didn't know where she was either.

Irritated, Natsume just placed his feet on the desk with a loud 'thump,' which attracted everyone's attention. He grunted and placed his manga over his face, waiting for the damn period to end so he could leave already.

--

Sitting on the branches of the Sakura tree were two girls.

Mikan had just finished telling Ayu about Natsume and the present and everything. She looked at the clouds in the sky. "And that's pretty much it," said the brunette.

Ayu looked at her with a concerned face. _She has that same expression at the time when I first met her... Sad... Confused... Lost... How can she still manage to try and hide it? I would have broken down by now... _A small smile escaped Ayu's lips. _But then again... Maybe that's why I admire her so much... And maybe that's why so many people like Mikan as well..._ She looked down at the ground and back at Mikan. She let out a sigh and asked hesitatingly, "Mikan, do you love Hyuuga?" Ayu looked at Mikan with a serious face. Her eyes pleaded Mikan for an honest answer.

Mikan was trying her best not to frown but was unsuccessful, so she just looked down and closed her eyes. "...Sadly, I do. I.. love.. him..." Mikan said in a shaky voice.

Being her best friend, Ayu knew she was trying to hold her tears in. "It's okay Mikan... Cry all you want..."

Not being able to hold it in anymore, the brunette burst out in tears and leaned on Ayu's shoulder. Ayu hugged her and let her cry as long as she wanted. _You shouldn't put this much pressure on yourself... You deserve everything more than anyone else... _

"Ayu..?" Mikan wiped her tear-stained face, though tears still managed to fall. "Am I wrong for... Loving... Natsume?" She asked in between sobs.

Ayu shook her head. "I already knew you still loved him. You know, no matter how much you've matured Mikan-chan, you can still be somewhat dense with these things." She let out a giggle. "He may have hurt you before, but he seems sincere now."

"Really...?" Mikan wiped her tears again.

"Well... Actually Hyuuga seems pathetic to me trying to do all these things for you, so he has to be desperate and serious about making up with you." She smiled. "And he must have some reason to have hurt you before. Besides, you only find guys like him in every once in a while."

"Demo! Ayu, I can't-"

Mikan was interrupted by the sound of the bell that signaled the end of the period and the beginning of lunch time. The two girls watched as students flooded the corridors.

"Let's go, Ayu." Mikan jumped off of the tree. She had stopped crying already and she wore that expressionless face again. "Hyuuga's coming this way, let's go see Akira at the cafeteria."

How'd she know that Natsume was coming to the Sakura tree? She could hear his thoughts, of course. They were loud and angry. But nonetheless, she didn't really need to hear his thoughts to know that he would come to his Sakura tree. He always goes there.

--

"Hey. Where have you two been?" Akira asked monotonously, not bothering to look up from his food. He felt their presence enter the atmosphere. Though he doesn't show it, he's been worried about Mikan as well.

Mikan and Ayu took a seat.

"The usual," was Ayu's reply.

He knew that she was lying. He knew something was up. But he let it pass. He decided that Mikan should make up her mind and make her own decisions. He promised himself not to meddle with whatever choice she makes.

Continuing the conversation, he said "So are you guys planning on cutting classes the whole day or what?"

"We're going back to class after lunch." Mikan said plainly. _'Hopefully Nat- I mean Hyuuga's not there...'_

"Mikan-chan, aren't you going to eat your food?" Ayu stared at her plate.

Mikan shrugged and continued to play with and poke the food on her plate.

Ayu sighed. _I wonder what she's thinking about._

"Ayu don't worry."

"Eh?" a confused Ayu said again. Then it hit her, "Mikan-chan! You promised not to read my mind. That's _so_ invading my private thoughts..." Ayu pouted, attempting to make Mikan smile.

Mikan did smile, "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I just uh..." The brunette tried to think of an excuse. "I just overheard your thoughts! Yeah! That's right," she sweat dropped.

"Ah, whatever, you idiot. Classes are going to start soon. Let's get going." Ayu said.

--

The brunette took a deep breathe and stood in front of the classroom doors. _Here I go... _She grabbed the handles and entered the classroom. Her eyes surveyed the room for that one person. She let out a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness, he's not here," she breathed out quietly.

Hyuuga Natsume wasn't there. He wasn't planning on going back to the classroom after lunch since he thought that Mikan wasn't going to be there anyways. He's currently resting at his favorite tree, even though it's still a little cold outside.

Mikan sat down as usual, in between Akira and Ayu. The rest of the day went on.

--

Class had ended and it was around three in the afternoon.

"You guys go ahead, I'll see you later at dinner I guess. Or maybe tomorrow... I don't really feel like eating." Mikan told her two friends.

Akira nodded and Ayu said: "'Kay. You sure you're okay, Mikan?" She asked again.

Mikan forced a small smile, "Yeah, I'm fine." Ayu hugged her tightly and left with Akira.

She let out an exasperated sigh and arranged her books and things. She was deep in thought. Since classes have already ended, she didn't expect anyone to be in the classroom but herself.

"Mikan," a feminine voice was heard.

"Huh?" She said absent mindedly, snapping out of her own thoughts. She turned to see who called out her name. A disgusted look came across her face as she saw who it was. There was only her and that other person in the room.

She had short raven hair and her back was facing Mikan.

"What do you want?" Mikan snapped.

She impatiently waited for the girl's reply. "W-Why?" The raven girl, none other than the inventor Imai Hotaru had asked in a hoarse voice.

_Eh. What's her problem? _Mikan didn't really want to have this conversation with her right now but nonetheless, she replied hastily, "What do you mean _'why?' _"

Hotaru's bangs hovered over her eyes as she walked to Mikan and slapped her face harshly.

"What the fxck was that for?!" She yelled at Hotaru's face. That's it. She wasn't going to stay here to get slapped around by this girl. She decided to leave before she would have the urge to beat the crap out of the damn girl.

Hotaru grabbed Mikan's arm and looked her in the eyes.

Mikan was taken aback. _She's crying? _Mikan was actually surprised that Hotaru, _the_ Hotaru, the cold girl that cared of nothing but money was actually crying. But of course, even though Mikan was surprised, she didn't show it--she didn't want to.

The raven haired girl's violet orbs didn't hesitate to show sadness, hurt, and sorrow. "I'm sorry..." Her voice cracked. She didn't want anyone to see her cry, but right now she didn't give a damn. Mikan was the most important thing to her right now. She just wanted to be in Mikan's presence again, knowing that she was happy and that they were good friends again. She missed Mikan's warmth and happiness.

Mikan looked at the crying inventor with disgust all over her face. "You think I would forgive you just like that? You think it's that easy? Well it's not. I thought you were supposed to be smart, Imai. It turns out you're just a fool." Mikan began to walk away.

Hotaru hugged her tightly. "Please... Forgive me," she said in between sobs.

"Let go of me." Mikan ordered. But of course, Hotaru didn't let go.

"Mikan I'm sorry! I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Please at least just acknowledge me! I don't care anymore... I-I... I just want to know that you don't hate me anymore! Please... We don't have to be best friends like-"

Mikan cut her off. "Best friends? _Best friends_? You've got to be kidding me. I never said that we were best friends. You even denied it yourself." Mikan remembered perfectly what Hotaru had said before. That she never said that they were best friends and that Mikan decided that herself, without Hotaru's consent whatsoever.

"Mikan, listen to me!" She pleaded. "We don't even have to be friends... At least let me be an acquaintance to you! Please!" She looked so desperate, already kneeling on the floor.

Mikan pitied Hotaru. She looked terrible. Even Mikan had never seen her so desperate before. she wanted to forgive Hotaru, but her pride just would't let her. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes. _Oh God, no... I shouldn't--no, I absolutely MUST not cry... Especially over her.'_

Mikan continued to head for the door with a kneeling Hotaru on the floor.

"Mikan, no!" She cried out. "Please, hear me out..."

Mikan stopped in her tracks and Hotaru continued, "You don't know how much I've suffered. I haven't been able to-"

Again, she was cut off by Mikan. "How much you've suffered? Don't even talk to me about suffering!" Mikan slapped Hotaru's right cheek. "I've been hurt emotionally everyday since I came to this academy. I've been ignored, picked on, hell, I've even been hurt physically! Try getting crushed by the ones you thought were your friends, hurt yourself everyday to get over the pain and cry to sleep every night thinking about the pain! Then tell me that you've gone through suffering."

"Mikan... If it'll make you forgive me, hurt me in any way you want! As long as I... Can be at peace with Mikan."

Mikan looked at her with anger and struck her hard. Hotaru winced put didn't move an inch. Mikan struck her again. And again. And Again. "Why... Won't.. You.. Do... Anything..." Mikan said in between her hits, each one getting lighter and lighter. She began to cry but still continued to hit Hotaru softly. "Stop doing this to yourself!" Mikan slapped Hotaru's left cheek. "Don't just stay there! Do something!" Mikan yelled, tears coming out of her eyes. "You're not the Hotaru I know! You're not..."

_I'd do anything for you to forgive me and just look at me decently... _Hotaru smiled sadly at her and replied, "I know... I'm incomplete without Mikan; I'll never be 'Hotaru' unless I have you..."

Mikan looked at her, her eyes red from crying and her face stained with tears. She leveled herself to Hotaru and raised her arm. Hotaru closed her eyes and braced herself for another hit. But instead, she received a gentle hug from her... Friend. Best friend.

Hotaru smiled and happily returned the hug.

"Hotaru?" The brunette looked up at the girl who was embracing her.

"Yeah?" The raven haired girl looked at Mikan with her violet orbs caringly.

"You're the idiot, not me."

"I know, I've always been. You just didn't notice." She flashed one of her rare smiles at the brunette.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, there was chappie seventeen. I think the next chappie is gonna be teh last one. Haha. Again, I apologize for not updating sooner. Idk, I guess I had no motivation... Coz I think my story sux, that makes me sad and not want to write it nemore. Waaah. :'( I wasn't gonna continue teh story again but then I didn't wanna leave you guyzs hanging;; esp. my reviewers & teh people who put this story on favorite and alert. I'm sowe...**

**Review!**

**-Aimee**


	18. Don't!

**Author's Note: Yay, are you guys ready for teh last chappie? Well, here it is. This story is gonna end now, & I hope yew guys like it! Enjoy. :) **

**Disclaimer: For teh last time in this story, Aimee does not and will not own Gakuen Alice ((_sigh_))**

**Warning: Somewhat extreme OOC--mainly for Natsume.  
**

* * *

_"Hotaru?" The brunette looked up at the girl who was embracing her._

_"Yeah?" The raven haired girl looked at Mikan with her violet orbs caringly._

_"You're the idiot, not me."_

_"I know, I've always been. You just didn't notice." She flashed one of her rare smiles at the brunette._

* * *

-

**Chapter 1****8: Don't!**

**-**

Akira pounded his fist against Mikan's door. "Mikan! Open up! Do it right now!" He ordered. But the brunette stayed in her room in silence, sitting in the corner of her dark room. She didn't really want to talk to anyone right now. It was all just too confusing.

"Mikan, at least eat something," she heard Ayu say. They all thought that Mikan was acting strange the past week and since a couple of days ago, she's been acting even worse. At first she just avoided Natsume, but now it seems like she's paranoid of him: even just hearing his name makes her jump. She used to just go to eat in the cafeteria every now and then, but now she just keeps herself locked in that room of hers, in darkness and without food.

She remained stiff and silent and heard Ayu sigh, showing that they were about to leave.

Mikan continued to stare into the vast darkness. She was having a _major_ emotional breakdown. She wasn't prepared to face reality; she wanted to stay in her own little world. All these questions flooded her head. What if Natsume was just playing around with her feelings again? What if what Ayu said was wrong: about Natsume being desperate and sincere? What if she gets hurt again? Would she still be able to handle it? But he had the scarf that she worked hard to make him so long ago... Did that mean that he still cared?

She stood up and walked to the mirror. She touched it slowly, as if touching her own self. _What about me? ...How do I feel?_ She pounced onto her bed in frustration and hugged her pillow tightly, letting out anguish tears.

_I guess I still am a cry baby after all..._

After some time, she jumped out of her bed room window, certain that everyone was in class already. Just to be careful, she used the Mind Reading Alice to make sure that no one was around. She ran to Natsume's favorite cherry blossom tree. She was hoping to find him there, but he wasn't. He wasn't there when she finally decided to stop crying and confront him about it.

She found it ironic how she was searching anxiously for Natsume now, when he was the one who had been going to her room every single day since she started to avoid him. He would usually knock and then barge in when Mikan didn't answer, but before Natsume got the chance to talk to her or even see her, she used her Teleportation Alice to slip away until he left her room.

Mikan then went to the lake, wanting to vent out her anger on the trees again, but when she got there, she wasn't even in the mood to do so anymore. The scenery just looked too beautiful. She took a deep breath and dove into the water. _Ah... It feels so good... _She floated to the top and just stayed there. She watched the clouds pass by slowly. The image of Natsume with his rare smile appeared in her mind.

She shook her head, her wet hair splattering water droplets everywhere. _I need to see him, now. _She started going to the classroom to see if he was there since he wasn't at the cherry blossom tree.

She stood on a tree branch inside the tree next to their classroom and searched the room for his messy raven hair. But he still wasn't there. The students were rowdy like usual, and Fukutan was still cowering under the teacher's desk. _I guess some things just don't change... _

_Crap, _she thought, and quickly fled. Ayu had spotted her.

"Mikan, wait!" Ayu yelled, catching Akira's attention.

"Mikan? Where?!" He looked around frantically, but Mikan had disappeared once again. He got up from his chair, ready to chase her. But Ayu grabbed onto his shirt to stop him. His blue eyes looked at her with an intense stare. She shook her head.

"Stop. Mikan needs to be alone," Ayu said.

"No, Ayu, she doesn't! Mikan's crazy! She needs our help!" He argued fiercely. This is how he expresses himself when he's worried about Mikan.

"She's not, Akira. She just needs some space to think things out." She was worried about Mikan, too, but she wanted to give Mikan what she wanted and needed the most.

Being the stubborn person that he was, Akira wasn't convinced, but Ayu looked at him sincerely and had a mature aura about her. He sighed in defeat and slumped back in his chair. "I just hope she's okay..." She gave him a half-hearted smiled.

Mikan was now headed toward Natsume's room, her clothes still dripping wet from diving into the lake. His room was the only other place that she could think where he was. She unlocked the door and her eyes darted around his huge room for him. Not on his king-sized bed. Not on his sofa. Not in the shower. Not anywhere to be seen.

_I've had it. I know who's behind all this now. _She looked down at the floor and clenched her fists into balls. _It's not Hotaru's fault, no. It's not Natsume's fault either. It's Fate's fault. It seems like this is what was destined to happen! _She walked out of his room, bursting out in tears once again. "Why?!" She yelled. "It's like we're meant to be separated!"

"Why...? Why...? Why...?" She asked no one in particular, her voice getting fainter with each "why" that she uttered. "It's not fair..."

--

She had made a decision. She was going to leave the academy. Tonight. She was going to leave everything behind and start all over. But for her last day at Alice Academy, she wanted to spend time with her friends.

"Hi guys," Mikan smiled. She was already sitting at their lunch table.

"Mikan!" Ayu hugged her tightly. "Are you okay now?"

"Are you feeling sane now, idiot?" Akira asked, but anyone could tell that he was greatly concerned about her.

Mikan nodded. She smiled at them again, but it was obvious to them that she was far from 'okay.' The expression in her eyes still looked lifeless and lost.

"I'm going to get your food for you, okay?"

Mikan nodded again and watched her two friends go get some lunch. _I'm sorry, guys..._

Ayu and Akira returned, and they ate their lunch.

"Are you sure you're okay, Mikan?" Ayu asked, watching Mikan poke and play around with her food.

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." She said absent mindedly.

When they walked back to their classroom, Mikan found Hotaru standing unguarded and saw this as an opportunity. "Hotaru!" She ambushed Hotaru with a hug and closed her eyes, getting ready for a hit from Hotaru's Baka Gun.

She waited, but she never felt it. She opened her eyes. "What, you're not going to hit me with with your Baka Gun?"

Hotaru shook her head. "No. Just for today. I missed your hugs. You can expect it tomorrow though," she grinned evilly.

"Y-Yeah, tomorrow..." She feigned laughter. She averted her gaze from Hotaru, feeling guilty.

--

Mikan took one last look at the academy. She inhaled and began to walk away. _I'm sorry, everyone... _She thought. She really wanted to see Natsume for one last time, but he was still nowhere to be found.

She approached the enormous gates of the academy, ready to leave. But she saw an unexpected figure there.

"Natsume?" She said in surprise.

He was panting heavily, with one hand placed on his shoulder, grasping it tightly, as if he was in pain. She walked closer to him, feeling her soft, brown hair sway back and forth and bounce up and down with each step that she took. As she neared him, his figure became clearer to her.

He was severely injured. His shoulder was bleeding; his shirt was all torn apart and his pants were dirtied.

"Yo," he said casually.

"What are you doing?! Where did you come from?" She asked and began to run to his side but he told her to stop.

"Mission. Stay where you are," he ordered. Mikan stood still.

"You're hurt! Let me help you," she reasoned, but Natsume would hear none of it.

"What were _you _doing?" He questioned, eyeing her carefully and suspiciously. A duffel bag was beside her on the floor and he could come up with just one conclusion: she was going to run away. Akira and Ayu weren't with her either.

"I-It's none of your business." She snorted and looked away.

"Alone. In the middle of the night. With a bag. Without your 'friends.' Running away?"

"Of course not. What makes you... Say that..."

"Tell the truth, Mikan. I'm losing more and more blood here by each second," he warned. She looked at him eagerly, wanting to rush by his side and heal his injury, but she knew he wouldn't let her if she didn't comply with his wishes. "It's because of me, isn't it?"

"Of course not, what makes you say-" She stopped mid-sentence, caught by surprise. A tear slid down Natsume's cheek. Natsume was... Crying? Hotaru was one thing, but this was incredulous! She couldn't believe her eyes. She never imagined to see _the _Hyuuga Natsume cry.

"You're afraid of getting hurt," he said, reading her like an open book. "You're afraid that I'll be an ass again..." He gripped his shoulder tighter, feeling the searing pain increase.

She stayed silent. He hit the bulls-eye. He began to walk to her slowly, limping and dragging his other foot.

"Natsume, don't move!" But he didn't listen. He kept advancing toward her slowly. He wanted her to open her heart again. He promised himself not to make the same mistake ever again, if only she could open her heart to him once more.

He stood before her, still managing to look as dazzling as ever, despite being wounded. He pulled her into an embrace. "Mikan," he whispered her name. The way he said it made it sound like honey flowing from his mouth. It sounded so right; it all felt so right even though she wanted to think otherwise.

"I'm sorry, Mikan..." She felt his strong arms around her hug her tighter, as if he was never planning on letting go. And he wasn't. She was his most important and precious treasure. "I promise to never hurt you ever again. Please, just forgive me... Don't leave, Mikan... Don't leave me... Don't..."

_No... No... No... _Mikan repeatedly told herself, not wanting to believe Natsume. "Liar," escaped her lips.

"No... I want to live with you by my side, for the rest of my life... I want to make you happy because..." He paused, trying to catch his breath. He was still tired and injured. But he wanted to tell Mikan what he felt. He continued, "You're the one who I love and treasure the most..." He smiled at her and fainted.

She stared at him blankly, letting it all sink in. It was amazing how his simple words affected her so much. Even though she didn't want to, she believed him. She knew that his love was real.

She stared and him and realized that he was still severely hurt, she quickly teleported to the hospital, trying to heal him as much as she could on the way.

--

"Mikan!" Natsume shouted as soon as he woke up. He found himself laying down in the hospital. He frantically surveyed the room for his beloved brunette.

"Where is she?" Natsume got out of bed, threatening to burn the nurse if she dared to stop him. He walked outside and found Mikan laughing, talking to Akira. "Akira..." His blood began to boil.

Mikan saw Natsume standing in front of the door. "Natsume! What are you doing?! Get back inside," she said, ushering him to return to his bed.

He smiled and hugged her tightly. "You're still here..."

"Of course," Mikan smiled sweetly.

He saw that Akira was staring and them, and felt that he had to mark his territory. He gave Mikan a long, sweet kiss, leaving Mikan in a daze.

"Mine." He told Akira and stuck his tongue out like a child. But he was happy. He was happy that he could finally say proudly that Mikan was his and his alone, with no objections.

* * *

**Author's Note (February 2009) : Yeah, there's the edited ending. I hope it's at least a tad better than the last ending! It felt kind of rushed so I rewrote it... Hope you guys liked it anyway. :)**

**Ja, **

**Aimee  
**


End file.
